The Flow Diverges
by StoryTelleroftheMist
Summary: A correctly placed stone can alter the course of a river. What would happen if 8man became the festival committee chairman instead?
1. Chapter 1

**What if...**

* * *

 **(8man PoV)**

Mankind has, since the beginning of time, understood this world that we live in by various mediums which has been labeled as 'senses,' these are abilities which enable us to understand and predict our surroundings, which are felt by us. Modern science lays down 5 types of senses, namely sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch, by which a person feels his surroundings.

But there are people who argue that there exists in us a sixth sense, something which doesn't exist prima facie like the others, but is felt nonetheless, it is something similar to the 'spider-sense' of a certain superhero. This sixth sense, hence is different from the 5 others completely and not widely understood.

Some people attribute this sixth sense to instinct, a remnant from our cave-dwelling ancestors, something which warned them whenever there was a danger to their life, a feeling that something is going to happen… it is also called a gut instinct by people.

Such a feeling is triggered in almost everybody, sometimes multiple times a day, but is generally avoided by people as being something irrational, something without a meaning or basis.

I have too, over the years, felt this myself on multiple times, but chosen to ignore it. The greater instances that pop up in my mind of the same are something telling me not to touch the send button after typing messages to my female classmates in middle school, not to go for the game of tag I was not invited to, not to stupidly confess my feelings during middle school…

Heck every time I ignored them, something bad happened, and I was left worse off than I was before. Thinking like that, maybe this '8man sense' was truly a god's gift, something bestowed upon me in exchange for giving me the 'dead fish eyes' attribute, maybe it was meant to be some sort of balancer, I honestly would've preferred normal eyes though, life would be so much easier…

By the way, why am I remembering about all this again? Ah right, this 8man sense and my past instances suddenly crop up in my mind due the impossible situation I am currently facing.

I stand still, my hand raised slightly as all eyes in the room focused on me, with what I believe to be 90% of the existing people in the room wondering who exactly I was….

Well, given my 108 skills as a loner and my most prided ability Stealth Hikki, it's no wonder that they don't know who I am, geh, my skills have improved! I'm on the path to becoming the greatest, the loner amongst loners! Hikigaya Hachiman the great!

Wait, this isn't the time for that, I can still feel all the people eyeing me, oh how I hate being the center of attention, my loner instincts prompted me to bolt right this instant, I wasn't that far from the door, maybe I could just make a run for it? Pretend this never happened…Stealth Hikki could be useful too…

*Ahem*

"You are… Hikigaya-kun from the 2nd year, right?" our airheaded but sweet Student Council president Shiromeguri-senpai spoke up as she spoke to me, albeit with a bit of hesitation. I'm surprised she even knows my name.

"Ah yes, my name is Hikigaya Hachiman from class 2-F…" I speak up somehow, how did I end up in this situation again?

 _(Flashback)_

 _'Groan'_

 _I wake up groggy and tired as hell, my cute little sister is presently standing near my bed with an annoyed look on her face, what time is it again? I pull the clock placed near my bed, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to clear my blurred vision, I really need more sleep…_

 _"Onii-chan" Komachi speaks up, "If you stay in bed any longer you're going to miss school entirely." She speaks in an annoyed tone._

 _"Uhhh sorry"_

 _I just mutter a lame apology as I finally open my eyes completely and look at the clock, it can't be that late…HOLY SHIT I'M GONNA BE LATE!_

 _I stand up in attention as fast as humanly possible dividing my tasks in order to ensure maximum efficiency, I need to work as fast as possible, I don't want to be punched again by that single middle aged woman!_

 _I jump into the shower as I hear Komachi going downstairs muttering something about breakfast, like I have time for that! Wiping myself with a towel, I cannot help but remember something telling me to sleep early last night, that I wouldn't be able to wake up early if I didn't, but I simply chose to ignore that and played with vita-chan, oh man I should've listened to that._

 _Putting on my uniform, I grab my bag and run downstairs, my parents are still asleep, well they returned pretty late last night,…bah I don't have time for that!_

 _Putting on my shoes, I notice Komachi moving towards me, in her hand is a big rice ball and a can of the divine elixir, MAX Coffee, ah my sweet little sister, stay with me forever!_

 _Opening the door, I stuff the rice ball in my mouth and put the can of MAX in my bag as I unlock my trusty bicycle._

 _"Goodbye onii-chan!" Komachi speaks up before running off to some girls standing at the end of the alley, well she does actually have friends, I simply say goodbye as well before rushing off as fast as my legs can take me on this metal steed, man I wish they would invent hyperloop transport already._

 _[Scene Change: School]_

 _Running as fast as I can, I throw the now empty can of MAX in the dustbin before rushing to class, by the grace of god, I'm not late and have a few minutes before the first class begins. I enter the class in my usual manner, no one particularly notices my entrance, guess Stealth Hikki is operating subconsciously as well, good, I'm not really one for social interactions anyway._

 _The teacher enters the classroom as the bell rings, indicating that the first class has begun, all the riajuus and their cliques are now disbursed as a result, each now confined to his or her desk, good, that's how it should be. The teacher proceeds to write some complicated equations on the board as everyone groans collectively, maths is something I particularly suck at, mainly as I find it incredibly boring, I mean with calculators and computers across the board, who needs to do these stupid equations anyway? The education curriculum needs major changes._

 _Ten minutes into the class and I feel my eyelids becoming heavier, man this is really boring, and the tired looks of my classmates aren't helping either, maybe I should take a nap, not like the teacher notices me anyway…_

 _There, I suddenly feel it again, this sense of foreboding, like it's telling me not to sleep now, or something…something will happen, it's momentary but profound, and jerks me awake, maybe sleeping isn't a good idea after all._

 _I last for 5 more minutes before sweet slumber consumes me._

 _[Scene Change: After 1st class]_

 _I stand slack jawed in front of the blackboard, unable to comprehend the meaning of what I see written on it, no this can't be happening…_

 _"W-what?" I meekly speak up before a mature feminine voice answers my questions._

 _"Do you need an explanation?" Hiratsuka-sensei asks as she looks at me, "You see that next class was about to start, and the guys were still arguing about who would be in the committee." She smiles mischievously as she places a hand on my shoulder, "So I chose you Hikigaya." She moves on towards the desk, "Consider it punishment for sleeping during extended homeroom."_

 _"But sensei, I mean come on…" I tried to mount a weak defence, pathetic as it may be, I don't want to be a part of this._

 _"Take your seat now" she cuts me off before I can even complete my sentence, "I have to start class." She looks at me again._

 _Well guess there's no way out now. I lament falling to the pleasures of sleep, oh my sweet slumber, why hath though betrayed me?_

 _Taking my seat dejectedly, I think about the entire situation again. Like any normal High School, Sobu has a host of programmes, clubs and events to signify the 'youth' on the campus. One such event happens to be the annual Sobu Cultural Festival, wherein the students organize various events on the school grounds turning the campus into the correct example of 'youth' for an entire day with lots of singing, dancing and all that crap._

 _Events such as that hold little meaning for a loner like me, the food offered at the stalls is generally average and overpriced, the noise sickening and the crowds uncontrollable, why any person would go there on a weekend is beyond my understanding, when you can spend the holiday in the comfort of your room, reading novels, eating and drinking MAX while laying down, ah true bliss…_

 _But guess that due to ignoring my instinct, and failing to object when I had to, I too am, begrudgingly, a part of this poisonous 'youth' which is being force-fed to the masses, what an unlucky day for me._

 _[After Classes]_

 _"Is there anybody that wants to be the girls rep? Please raise your hand if you want to." our class representative asks as he stands behind the teacher's desk, classes are over now, but we are yet to decide upon the second committee member from our class, as the system in Sobu goes, each class has to nominate two reps for the festival, one girl and one guy, nobody normally wants to take up those posts due to the amount of work that they entail, so unlucky guys like me are saddled with the same._

 _"This is getting nowhere, let's use stone-paper-scissors to decide" the class rep spoke up, what's his name again?_

 _"Haah" the fire queen of Sobu spoke up, it appears that the crude method of this peasant did not bode well with her._

 _"Is the job difficult?" the resident airhead of the service club, Yuigahama Yui spoke up. Well duh, there's a reason nobody raised their hands yet._

 _"Not particularly." The class rep spoke in a diplomatic tone, I guess I'll call him 4-eyes for now. "It shouldn't be too difficult unless you do something too wild." He then glanced over at me before continuing, "Though the female representative may end up having more trouble than she bargained for."_

 _Well given my reputation, or lack of any reputation thereof, it's natural for him to think like that, 'Sorry it had to be me, 4-eyes-kun.'_

 _"Though it would be great if you did it Yuigahama-san" 4-eyes spoke up again, "You're quite popular and suited for the role." So he's trying to just pass the buck to the first person that speaks huh?_

 _"Eh, so Yui-chan is gonna be doing it huh?" I hear a voice from the backside of the class, it's the girl whom we met during the festival when I went there with Yuigahama, come to think of it what was her name again Saga-something, well whatever, she pisses me off._

 _"That's so nice. Two close people working on an event, things may get really exciting." Saga-something speaks in a smug tone as her clique giggles at her statement, seems that she remembers the festival as well._

 _"Well, Yui's gonna be attracting customers with me, so that's a no-go." The resident fire queen spoke up this time, I caught her glancing at me just before she said that, well looks like she doesn't want Yuigahama to be associated with me either, while I can understand why, isn't that a bit hurtful Miura-san?_

 _"Oh…yeah, attracting customers is important as well." Saga-something wisely backs off, seems that she doesn't wish to encounter the wrath of the fire queen either._

 _"So basically we are looking for someone who is popular and shows leadership qualities as well." The sparkling prince of Sobu, Hayama Hayato speaks up this time, seems that he doesn't want anyone from his clique to be involved in this,_

 _"It's got to be Sagami-san then" the bird-brained idiot lackey of Hayama spoke up, did he take a clue from Hayama's statement? No he's an idiot, he couldn't possibly read the situation…_

 _"I'm sure Sagami-san will do a great job" the great prince backed up the statement of his lowly soldier, wait, did he prepare this intentionally?_

 _"Uh, me? No way" Saga-something spoke up with overdramatic hand gestures, but you can't fool a loner like me with that…the rejection expert cannot be fooled by something like that, when girls actually reject something they do so with cold eyes, and virtually expressionless faces…_

 _The painful memories from middle school are rerun in my head again, why did I ever even try to talk to her? But that's besides the point._

 _The point is that your rejection is clearly fake, the real rejection, with cold eyes and expressionless faces, that's how they do it, that's scary enough to make you fear for your heart's well being, seriously, you just want to die._

 _"Could you please do it?" Hayama finishes this by giving her a wink and a smile that makes half the girls in Sobu swoon, man that is almost cruel, the way he is manipulating her, almost like he's playing her, all to keep Yuigahama away from the committee, does he hate me?_

 _"Umm, uhh" Saga-something is yet to give a response, but considering her expressions, her nomination is probably set in stone, "I guess if no one else is doing it, then I will." Hook, line and sinker, you're actually scary Hayama, how many times have you done this already?_

 _Well, whatever, it's decided, I move from my desk with my bag and head to the conference room where the committee is supposed to meet up for the first meeting today, I'm not even acquainted with Saga-something so there's no need to wait for her._

 _Yet what is this bad feeling I have…_

 _[Conference Room]_

 _I enter the room, it seems I'm the late one here given that a lot of people are already seated, moving to the end, I take a corner seat next to a guy I don't know, well best to have this over with fast so that I can go home._

 _I see others come in after me, well good to know I'm not the only late one, glancing over, I notice Yukinoshita seated near the front, seems like she was pulled into this as well. Oh well atleast she will work._

 _"Well then let us start the Cultural Festival executive committee meeting." A cheerful voice rang out in the room as we were all given handouts relating to this event, man this looked like a pain, too much work is not good for me. "I am Shiromeguri Meguri, the student council president." She introduced herself as she looked over the room, satisfied at the amount of grunts that would be working for this, she smiled as she spoke up again,_

 _"Let's get down to business and elect a committee chairman. Any candidates?" She spoke up cheerfully looking over the room again, this was a natural thing given the Japanese obsession with hierarchy, but no one stood up or even moved, getting stuck in this committee was a pain in itself, but becoming the chairman? No one would volunteer for more work, we weren't even being paid here._

 _"You're Yukinoshita-san right?" Shiromeguri-senpai spoke up, seems like she was fishing actively for a candidate now,_

 _"Yes" Yukinoshita replied in a reserved tone._

 _"I knew it, you're Haruno-san's sister right?" Yukinoshita tensed up at the statement, as I thought, the relationship between the 2 sisters wasn't exactly cordial, "She was the chairman earlier, the festival went down as one of the best in Sobu's history!" she spoke enthusiastically before pausing, "So how about it? If you're Haruno-san's sister then…"_

 _"I shall pass." Yukinoshita rejected her instantly, and rather rudely f I may add, did Shiromeguri-senpai touch a nerve there? Well not like it's my business anyway._

 _From the corner of my vision, I spot Saga-something murmuring with her friends as they giggled and pointed fingers at each other, Saga-something went quiet for a moment before straightening herself as she prepared to stand up, was she going to nominate herself?_

 _Suddenly, my '8man sense' tingled, and this time it was more intense than ever, like at the time when I had idiotically confessed in middle school, and became a butt of jokes and teasing, something was telling me that I had to stop her from becoming the chairman, why? I don't know myself._

 _What should I do? Ignore it like earlier and sit quietly? I don't even know her, and yet my confession rings again in my mind, I had ignored this sense of foreboding earlier, and suffered quite a lot for it, becoming the loner I was now, what was worse that could happen?_

 _Yet this feeling remained, seeing Saga-something preparing to rise, my mind went into overdrive, in a snap-second, I made a decision to stop her, but how was I supposed to do that?_

 _How dammit!?_

 _Suddenly, I felt all the stares in the room focus on me, collecting my thoughts._

 _'I didn't say that out loud did I?'_

 _I noticed that contrary to sitting quietly, I was now standing, drawing the attention of all the people in the room. Feeling helpless now, I simply raised my hand slightly to chest level, what am I going to do now?_

 _(Flashback end)_

And that's how I ended up like this.

"So umm, Hikigaya-kun, alright then." Shiromeguri-senpai regained her composure almost instantly, "Is there anybody else?" she looked over the room again.

Glancing over the room, I notice that Yukinoshita is looking at me with a surprised face, well I guess this is quite OOC of me, turning my head, my eyes again focus on Saga-something who is staring at me as well, seeing me looking at her, she tears her gaze from me and sits down on her chair.

' _Man what a relief.'_

Wait, why am I relieved? And why the heck am I still standing?

"Well, since there appear to be no other candidates…" Shiromeguri-senpai speaks up again, "Hikigaya-kun" she looks at me, I gulp slightly, "We'll be going with you for the committee chairman." I nod dumbly,

What exactly have I gotten myself into?

* * *

 **I know you're going to say that I'm supposed to be updating 'A Different Turn,' right?**

 **Well I was doing that, but this idea just wouldn't get out of my mind, so I had to write it.**

 **It felt really interesting when I re-watched episode 10 of the 1st season, I mean things can be really different from here on.**

 **No pairings have been decided as of now.**

 **As usual, feel free to leave any reviews or suggestions.**

 **PS**

 **If you note grammatical mistakes, please mention them specifically in a review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey there guys, here comes a new chapter.**

* * *

"…we'll be going with you for the committee chairman."

What exactly have I gotten myself into?

To work is to lose.

I mean really, I shouldn't even be on this committee in the first place, and I'm the chairman now? Give me a break dammit! I didn't even know I was standing…

*Clap* *Clap*

The student council started clapping lightly, which was mimicked by quite a few people sitting there, maybe they were just glad that someone else took the guillotine, but still, they saved their necks…

"Then let us conclude this meeting, please remember to meet up here tomorrow after classes end so that we can divide the tasks and begin working." Shiromeguri-senpai spoke without missing a beat as she wound up this initial meeting, The people sitting near me filed out as I remained seated, Shiromeguri-senpai gave me subtle glances to tell me that I would have to, so I'm staying back.

"So, um Hikigaya-kun" Shiromeguri-senpai spoke up as she neared me, "Why don't we chalk out the details of you being the chairman now."

Well guess there's no way out of this now, first Hiratsuka-sensei pushed me into this committee, and now I'm heading it, rewind back a few hours, and I'd actually consider it a joke.

"Sure" I spoke in a neutral voice as I got up and moved to the desk wherein the other members of the student council were seated, since I'd already taken the job, I'd have to take the headaches as well.

[An hour later]

The small introductory session with the student council went rather well, contrary to my expectations, the guys, and even the girls treated me normally, without a hint of hesitation or anything like that. They could even be considered friendly.

The outline they gave me was rather simple, I was the formal head of the committee and would hold the power to grant approval or to reject the proposals presented to me, I would be granted a seal which was to be used by me stamp my decisions. Aside from that I was given considerable financial powers over the budgetary allocations as well, most of the powers could also be delegated to other members in order to ease traffic. The student council, or one or more of its members would be present in all the meetings of the committee and would be willing to offer assistance as and when required. So far so good, Shiromeguri-senpai was surprisingly reliable and the briefing went well, I was wished good luck with handling the work as the briefing ended and the meeting was finally dismissed.

"Ah Hikigaya-kun" Shiromeguri-senpai called out to me as I moved along the hallway, I looked behind to see her approaching me with a light spring in her step, did she forget to tell me something?

"I forgot to tell you something"

Bingo, she's really an airhead,

"Please feel free to scout for a vice-chairman to work alongside you."

Wait, what? I was going to have second-in-command as well? If I was to, why didn't you do it in the committee itself dammit!? I don't know anybody at all!

More importantly nobody knows me!

How am I supposed to find someone given those parameters?

"I bet you're wondering why I didn't ask for someone to be the vice-chairman in the meeting itself." Is she an ESPer or something?

"You see," she seemed to hesitate a bit, "the chairman and vice-chairman of the committee last year weren't on the best of terms, their clashes almost resulted in the festival itself being called off, so we thought that maybe this year we'd let the chairman choose the vice-chairman to reduce friction in the committee."

She smiled as she spoke again, "So feel free to ask anybody from the committee yourself, maybe you can get one of your friends to do it."

Ouch! Relax Hachiman, she's not Yukinoshita, she doesn't know you, she's just saying that honestly out of the goodness of her heart,

But that just makes it worse dammit!

Is it that big a deal to not have friends!? Isn't self-sufficiency the ideal every country strives for? If so, why shouldn't their citizens be judged on the same parameter…

"Well then, see you tomorrow at the meeting Hikigaya-kun." Shiromeguri-senpai broke my train of thought as she waved at me before moving down the hallway and disappearing, so what am I supposed to do now?

Right, find a vice-chairman.

How do I do that?

No fucking idea.

With those thoughts on my mind, I aimlessly wandered around the hallway to find myself facing the familiar sliding door, beyond which lay the service club.

' _Well, since I'm here anyway'_

I slide open the door and enter the room, my actions drawing the attention of its two earlier occupants.

"Yo"

I mutter my lame greeting as I take my usual seat t the far side of the table, I've still got some time before school shuts down, might as well get some rest before going home.

One of the occupants moves a bit as I sit down, soon enough, a cup of tea is placed near to me as the said occupant looks at me with a questioning gaze.

"You are late Hikigaya-kun."

Thank you captain-obvious.

"The briefing with the student council took longer than expected." I mutter quietly as I bring the tea cup to my lips, ah, however cold and rude this woman may be, her tea sure is warm and sweet.

"Ah that's right," the other occupant of the room speaks up, "Hikki you're the committee chairman now right!?"

Is that a question or a statement? And why are you so loud dammit!?

As if reading my expressions, Yuigahama flusters slightly before speaking up, albeit at a lower volume "I mean I was totes surprised when I came to know that Yukinon was on the committee, but then I heard that Hikki was on the committee too, and that Hikki became chairman."

Well, considering my usual antics, I do admit this is quite surprising of me.

"I was pretty much forced into it." I give her a curt reply, only to be cut-off by the ice-queen.

"I did not see anybody point a gun in your head when you stood up for the position of chairman Hikigaya-kun, or maybe those eyes of yours permit you to see beings unknown to mankind."

What's the deal with her? And why do my eyes have to come in everytime?

"I meant being on the committee itself, Hiratsuka-sensei pretty much shoved the job onto me just because nobody else wanted to take it." _'And because I slept off the time which could have been my objection period.'_

"But Hikki didn't you nominate yourself to be the chairman?"

Tch, why does this bimbo have to be perceptive now of all times…

"It's because…" should I tell them the truth? that I acted on impulse without thought, no, neither of them will believe me anyway, heck I don't believe it myself yet, acting on instinct has never been one of my 108 special skills, but then again, what do I tell them?

"If I was going to have to work anyway I'd rather be the one giving orders, after all it's the boss that relaxes in his cabin while the employees slave off in their cubicles trying to keep their jobs." I produced a somewhat acceptable answer. "If anyone's working less here then it's gonna be me."

"Eeh" Yuigahama looked at me with a mixture of disgust and surprise.

Yukinoshita just sighed as she rubbed her temples.

"And here I thought I had finally made some slight progress, but your disgusting attitude seems to be a persistent problem along with your eyes."

Why do my eyes have to be dragged in here?

"Anyways I hope that conduct yourself appropriately Hikigaya-kun, after all your actions now will affect the reputation of the school as a whole." Yukinoshita continued, "though it seems the outcome has already been set in stone."

Can we have a little trust, I mean just a little? I haven't actually done anything to deserve a tarnished reputation…yet.

Pushing back my thoughts I sighed as I sunk into my seat, the girls seemed to notice my change in posture as they looked at me curiously, but then again, I wasn't countering Yukinoshita's barbs now, how unusual of me.

"Buzz off I've got enough on my mind already," not getting any response I continue, "Shiromeguri-senpai asked me to select a vice-chairman." I don't really know why I'm telling this to them, but then again what choice do I have? Maybe I can make this into a request, find me a second-in-command who can do all the work as I relax and bask in the glory.

"It seems that you have indeed been asked to embark on an impossible mission Hikigaya-kun." Why you! Do you have to say it with a condescending smirk?

"Is this a request to the service club?" her tone doesn't change.

"Yeah…" no use running away, this is for the best…probably.

"I see," Yukinoshita flicks her hair, "Seeing as not many people would be able to deal with a disgusting being as yourself, I shall take the initiative myself given the lack of volunteers."

Wait, what?

"Have your eyes affected your brain as well?"

Again with the eyes, I'm really gonna start with your chest if this continues.

"Very well then, to spell it out, so that even a being of low intellect can get it…"

Oi!

"I shall take up the mantle of being the vice-chairman myself, seeing that the event is likely to have a huge impact on the school's reputation as well, I cannot let someone with your eyes and personality control the flow and let this event transform into a disaster."

So not a even a little trust in me eh? But wait, this could be for the better, with Yukinoshita being the vice-chairman, I don't have to worry about dealing with a complete stranger, or worse, a riajuu, and if you put all the insulting and attitude aside, she's pretty efficient herself, so I wouldn't need to review her work.

"Then I shall look forward to working with you." I end the discussion, my problem was solved quite fast, I can now head home without worry. Yukinoshita's face shows a look of surprise as she tilts her head slightly, I bet she didn't expect me to take up her offer this easily, mah, whatever, it's been settled now.

'Bzzz'

Sheesh, what now of all times? I silently withdrew my phone from my pocket and unlocked it to see a message from the person who caused me all this trouble in the first place.

Reading the message, I get up and pack my stuff as I prepare for a new destination, man I'm tired now, as I start to leave, I draw curious glances from my clubmates, sensing their curiousity I answer their unasked questions,

"Hiratsuka-sensei wants to see me before I head home." Seriously if that woman put in this much effort in finding herself a partner she'd actually have a boyfriend, I mean really she's attractive and all but the age is too big an issue for me to take you sensei.

Drawing affirmative nods from the girls and a "See you tomorrow Hikki" from our club's own airhead I trudge over to the teacher's lounge.

Outside the sliding door I catch a hint of smoke, man she's smoking again, seriously, this smell is a huge turnoff sensei, maybe that's why she doesn't get called for second dates. With those thoughts I knock.

"Come in." a womanly voice answers, well here goes nothing.

I walk in to see her sitting on a sofa, an empty ashtray in front of her and one lit cigarette in her mouth, either this is her first smoke or she cleaned the ashtray as it was full, really, stop smoking please, I beg you!

"Ah Hikigaya, take a seat." She said nonchalantly gesturing at an empty chair.

Taking cue, I sat quietly, putting my bag on the floor I sat up straight and looked at her, why did she call me again?

"You know I expected something to happen when I put you on the committee." She put the cigarette butt in the ashtray, "But really I didn't expect something this big to happen so soon," she smirked as if taunting me, "What in the world possessed _you_ of all people to nominate yourself for the chairman?" she finished with an expression that did little to hide her amusement.

"I see that you know already."

"Pfft ofcourse I do, I'm the guiding faculty for the festival after all, hell by now, I doubt there's anybody in the school that doesn't know. But then again, you're avoiding my question."

"Well uhm…" I struggle to come up with a response, I can't risk telling her the same answer I gave to my clubmates without being punched in the guts.

"Don't tell me…" her face looks like she's holding back immense amounts of laughter, "You did that on a whim?" she's laughing alright.

Since I've already been caught I choose to simply look at the ground, my cheeks redden slightly at her laughter, until I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"It's good that you have the courage to try something different," her voice sounds almost motherly, "Just make sure that you try to enjoy this yourself, different experiences can be especially rewarding, and just remember, if you mess up, you can count on me as your guidance counselor to hear about the troubles."

I dumbly nod, apparently our conversation is over as she moves towards the window, looking outside, a distant look on her face, well guess I should get going.

"Hikigaya…"

Well what now? I turn to see she's not facing me.

"Did you decide who the vice-chairman will be?"

"Yukinoshita decided to take it…" I give her the answer, only to hear her chuckle as if she was expecting it, am I missing something here?

"Well then, see you tomorrow." She waves slightly without facing me, confused slightly, I take my leave, head down the stairs, to the bike stand and then head homewards, man this day has really been taking a toll on me.

Parking my bike near the wall of our driveway, I move towards the door of my house and open it, peering inside, I see that the lights have already been turned on and a familiar pair of shoes has been kept at the corner, well looks like Komachi's home.

"I'm home" I announce softly as I take off my shoes, I've never been a fan of loud greetings, they're not good for my heart.

"Ah welcome home onii-chan." A cheerful voice rings from the kitchen along with a soothing aroma as I enter, well guess we'll be having fish curry for dinner.

"Fish curry eh?" I say as I enter the kitchen to find Komachi setting the rice cooker.

"Boo onii-chan you're supposed to ask 'what's for dinner?' not flat it out." Komachi pouts cutely, well I can't help it so-

"Yeah sorry, but the smell of salmon is a clear giveaway."

Komachi pouts again before speaking up, "Geez its always this way, onii-chan is able to figure out but Komachi is never able to get what onii-chan puts in his curry."

Oh so my dear imouto is feeling inferior to my superior curry making skills, but then again that is one thing at which even mom has been unable to beat me yet.

"Well, you'll just have to keep guessing imouto-chan." I give her a quick reply as I began to put the dishes on the table, mom texted me earlier saying that she would be coming late after she and dad have dinner with a few acquaintances, so it's just me and Komachi again, not that I'm complaining, this is far better than having dinner with people you don't particularly like and having to smile through the ordeal in order to keep your job.

I finish laying the table and proceed to lift the lid of the pot, ah as expected Komachi's curry smells great.

"Here onii-chan," Komachi hands me a plate with rice, I proceed to put some curry on the side, repeating the task with another plate before laying both plates on the table.

"Itadakimasu"

I dig in with a gusto, I haven't really had anything after recess at lunch and I couldn't catch a quick bite in between the briefing sessions. We have a quite and fulfilling dinner.

"So onii-chan how was your day." As expected, Komachi begins small talk, my dear sister, you must really learn to appreciate the value of silence, it is called golden for a reason.

"Nothing much…" I begin talking about the day, and soon enough I'm relaying the information about me being thrust into the committee and becoming the chairman to boot, all this while, Komachi looks at me with a mixture of surprise and…awe?

"So onii-chan is like the boss now?"

Komachi I know very well that this is a highly unlikely scenario, but believe me! I'm not a simple grunt this time, I'm far more! Scratch that I've always been a person of higher strata!

"Yeah, it feels like a bit of a pain though." I comment as I sip on some freshly brewed tea to mark the end of my meal, well time to head up, finish those annoying assignments and get some sleep.

"Well I'm sure that you'll give it your best onii-chan, ah that earned me a lot of Komachi points!" with that Komachi ran upstairs, since the dishes are already in the dishwasher, I simply switch on the machine and head upstairs, pull out my books and start with my homework.

[1 hour 30 minutes later]

I lean back on my chair and stretch my arms, man math homework is a huge pain in the ass, but if I'm aiming for that cram school scholarship I've gotta get a passing grade in the sciences as well, while I'm pretty much done in humanities and language, math and science are the only 2 tests that stand in the way of me getting a huge allowance bonus.

'Bzzz'

The vibration of my phone pulls me out of my thoughts, who could be messaging me this late? Don't tell me mom forgot the keys again and I have to stay up…

Reaching for my phone, I see that I've received a message from a number not on my contact list, then again, my contact list isn't that exhaustive to begin with, maybe it's just a random ad again.

Clicking on the notification, I see that I've received more than one message from the same no., well let's see.

' _Hello Hikigaya-kun, this is your StuCo President Shiromeguri Meguri, I sourced your contact information from Hiratsuka-sensei.'_

Well this isn't completely unexpected, if I'm the chairman, my contact information has got to be accessible to quite a lot of people.

' _This is just to tell you that you will have to come in a bit early for school tomorrow, I need you to sign certain documents before we can formally handover the seal to you before the meeting.'_

Well, with more work comes more pain, brace yourself Hachiman.

' _Is 7:00 AM okay?'_

I send in a quick reply, it would be good if the meeting wasn't too early.

'Bzzz'

That's too fast!

' _Yes, please come straight to the StuCo room, by the way have you decided on who will be the vice-chairman?'_

Well, since it's been decided already.

' _Yukinoshita Yukino has agreed to take the position of vice-chairman._

 _P.S. I will be there on time.'_

With that I'm hopefully done for the night.

'Bzzz'

These airheads certainly have some texting skills.

' _That is excellent news Hikigaya-kun, I look forward to working with you._

 _Goodnight.'_

Well, since she couldn't get Yukinoshita to be the chairman, I think it is fair to assume she thinks I've got negotiation skills to convince her, well no use denying it.

' _Goodnight senpai.'_

Now I'm done, time to hit the sack…

'Bzzz'

For the love of god!

' _Hat-chan I forgot the keys at home and dad left his key at the office, please bear with us tonight, we'll be home in an hour.'_

Great, well time for you to get some late night exercise Vita-chan.

* * *

 **So here it is, though I think this could be considered a bit short, but i'm aiming for a gradual development.**

 **Well there was a little bit of a hiatus, so thank you for your patience.**

 **Anyways I'm going to update 'A Different Turn' now.**

 **See ya guys next chapter.**

 **As usual, feel free to leave reviews or suggestions.**

 **PS**

 **The Quotable Patella: Thanks for your appreciation, I'll try to live up to everyone's expectations.**

 **ad: It is truly interesting!**

 **ArmantusCumPinnae: Well, we're going to see that soon enough.**

 **narutoDkurosaki: I'm not sure of what your'e saying, but in the original story, 8man confessed to Orimoto Kaori in middle school.**

 **Miguel235: don't be so sure about that.**

 **aalabarakat: not really...**

 **max3213: I shall strive to update faster from here on.**

 **hikigaya: thank you.**

 **ZeroDarkNex14: Thanks a lot!**


	3. The trickle now flows to the east

**Cheers to a new chapter!**

* * *

 **(8man PoV)**

It's been over an hour since mom's message came in, Komachi has since drifted off to the sweet depths of slumber, and being the responsible elder sibling, I have to stay awake till my parents are done with their necessary socializing and return to our humble abode.

Plus dad would probably disown me if I caused Komachi discomfort by having her stay up.

I'm currently surfing through TV channels and have finally settled on an old James Bond movie, though I'm not a big fan of the series, I do find them entertaining, the story is generally good, the heroines real lookers, there's quite a bit of sci-fi and I can always use this as an excuse of trying to improve my English by watching foreign films.

Vita-chan lies discarded upstairs in my room, the movie is pretty much nearing climax, but seriously, going on with a big blast along the fault lines of tectonic plates to take out business competitors? I might not be the brightest bulb in science, but that sounds plain stupid, but then again, they say there's a fine line between stupidity and genius, maybe someone could actually try that and succeed, who knows what could happen.

*Ding*

Well looks like they're back.

I lower the volume and move towards the door, luckily a commercial break pops in which means that I won't miss the ending. Reaching the door, I take off the chain, unlock the door and open it.

"Welcome Home."

I offer a proper greeting instead of my usual 'Yo,' generally my dad tends to come back drunk from such dinners and has a tendency to suddenly become my counselor and philosopher if it looks like I'm slacking, his lecture drags on for hours and to be honest I am quite sleepy now.

"Goodnight Hachiman." With a quick response, my old man moves past me straight towards their bedroom, looks like the night was more demanding than usual.

"W-we're back." My mom gives me a nervous smile, her face is a bit red, hey, it's not like this is something new for me, I'm pretty much used to it now.

I see that mom is carrying a big bag, not something that someone usually takes to a dinner, well whatever, according to the basic rules of chivalry I extend my hand to relieve her of the burden which she gladly puts in my hand, it's surprisingly heavy.

Mom moves in and takes off her coat and scarf before heading towards the kitchen, I follow her mutely awaiting instructions as to where to dump this burden before I copy dad and proceed straight to my room.

"Put it there Hat-chan."

She gestures to a corner where I immediately dump the weight, now-

"Oh my, A view to kill."

She points out to the movie on TV in the living room, looks like the commercial break has ended.

"Yeah"

I comment tiredly as I sit down on the sofa, might as well catch the final battle, even if it isn't in the best graphics. I notice that mom takes a seat next to me as well, quite interested in the movie.

"The premise of such always seemed far fetched to me." As usual, the female begins small talk.

"You've seen this one before mom?"

"Your dad took me to see that on our first date." She chuckles a bit before continuing, "Though I was pretty much clueless the entire time, I could barely understand English and the theater didn't even have subtitles."

"That's surprising." I always thought dad had the inherent ability to read between the lines, how could he have missed out on such a crucial detail? More importantly how did mom even agree to go out with him again if he committed such a huge blunder on his first try?

"Well, seeing him that nervous was amusing enough for me, plus the movie told me how I lacked, I started reading English books only after that." My questions are answered without even asking, can she read my mind?

The movie ends shortly, as usual, the 'good guys' win, someone out there should try making a movie where the villain succeeds, I can't guarantee it will break revenue records, but this 'hero saves the day' is a bit too overused, audiences can always use some change.

I switch off the TV, now to say the words and sleep.

"Goo-"

"Would you like some tea Hat-chan?" well looks like I can't go down just yet, might as well play along.

"Sure." It's pretty chilly tonight.

Mom moves inside the kitchen and I follow suit, soon enough a cup of warm tea is placed on the dining table, I take a sip and relish it's sweet taste, ah, truly, this is even a notch above Yukinoshita.

"So how was your day Hat-chan, anything special?"

"Well today…" I repeat the events of the day. Though she's a corporate slave, mom is fairly involved in my life, I mean she often cleans my room for me, does my laundry among other stuff, plus she's quite open minded as well, I mean one time she even found an old porno mag in my room and- nevermind that, anyways, I often end up talking with her about my rather boring school life.

Almost nothing in my life is hence hidden from her, even my confession to Orimoto and me being a part of the Service club, she tried to help me both times, treating me to ice-cream when I was rejected, consoling me and even offering to register an official complaint when I told her I was forced into a club.

Mom listens with rapt attention as I speak along, though Komachi is the favored child, mom pays more attention to me as dad solely dotes on his daughter, so some form of balance is to be maintained.

"So you're the committee head now?" her tone clearly indicates she is amused, well then again it's quite some time since any worthwhile news came from me.

"Yeah," I lean back on the sofa, "Though it feels like too much of a pain."

"It's always nice to try new things Hat-chan, after all that is what marks true youth."

'hmpf'

Heh, youth, what a lie.

*groan*

I turn to see mom facepalm dramatically at my reaction, hey what's with you woman, are you drunk as well? Who the hell drove then?

"Honestly Hachiman, one girl and you're down like this, sheesh."

Wait, what?

"Be a man dammit!" her cheeks are flushed as she practically shouts in my ears, she's drunk alright.

Wait a sec, is that why dad made a beeline to the bedroom immediately? Curse you old man! This is _your_ wife! Handle her yourself and stop shoving your tasks onto me!

I wince slightly as I rub my ears, they're sensitive dammit!

"I mean c'mon one girl rejected you, get over it, be a man, there are plenty more fish in the ocean." She continues to ramble on, oh how I'm jealous of you my father, sleeping peacefully on my bed.

"Guys turning like you are the reason for our declining birth rates, the guy on TV was right, you're becoming damned herbivores!"

This is seriously getting out of hand! Don't blame me for our country's declining population, and what's the deal with me being a herbivore? I will never restrict my food choices like that.

Suddenly I feel the collar of my shirt is grabbed with a surprising amount of force as mom pulls me in towards herself, my dead fish eyes stare into her big onyx ones, honestly I'm getting a bit scared now, a drunk dad I'm used to, but a drunk mom is something I'm facing for the first time.

"Look at me Hachiman." Her gaze is fierce, of a level even higher than the proclaimed fire queen of Sobu, I don't remember her ever being this pushy, what in the world did she drink?

"You've got to have a go-getter attitude young man, where's your hunger?"

I already ate dinner mom, and what's with you being the drunk philosopher? I thought that was dad's role!

"Your father asked me out 3 times before I agreed to go out with him, you know that?"

He did? I thought dad was always the kind to avoid all this sort of stuff, you know that requires perseverance, like seriously, he enrolled me in cram school just after one attempt at teaching me math in middle school.

"Well honestly you do suck at math Hat-chan, you needed more help than Hiroshi could provide."

Did I think out loud again? And what's with telling your own son he sucks at math!? You've got to be encouraging to your children dammit!

"But honestly, I mean your algebra was horrible, and for encouragements, I was sure you'd still make it to Sobu, you've always been smart enough in your studies atleast."

I really need a filter between my mouth and my brain.

And atleast?

"Well let's put it this way Hat-chan," she leaves my collar allowing me to sit a bit comfortably, but her gaze doesn't allow my eyes to waver, "You didn't study to get into Sobu did you?"

What, hey I spent 2 months running myself to pure exhaustion everyday studying just so that I could crack the entrance exam.

"You simply wanted to get away from that girl who rejected you, what was her name again, Ori-something and your classmates that made fun of you for that, and you figured that making it to Sobu was your best bet as none of them had brains enough to crack that entrance test."

Has she always been this perceptive, or this is just a side effect of being drunk?

"I mean honestly, I was happy you were being serious and all but at the end it was just to run away, you know it just ruined the mood even when we saw your name in the top five."

Was that why you guys were so normal even during the family party? I mean sure I got a huge allowance bonus and a lot of other things, but the tone of my parents was never as ecstatic as that of a few of my relatives when they enthusiastically called that day to congratulate me.

"Seriously, that was it,"

I really need to seal my mouth.

"C'mon now, I would've been just as ecstatic if I hadn't known your reasons for working hard, knowing you were doing all that just so that you could get away from those kids made me just sad when you succeeded."

Did my parents actually think that much about me? I thought that…

"Well ofcourse we do, why else do you think your father is doting so much on Komachi now?"

Daughter-con…

"Pfft-hehehehaha" mom laughs like a maniac, just lull over and sleep already!

"Honestly, how did I not think of this? Daughter-con, its hilarious!" she continues to laugh unabated before her expression turns somewhat serious.

"He's just trying his best to make sure she's happy now," she looks at me again, "You know why, don't you Hachiman?"

Well the thought did cross my mind, but I've pretty much ignored it till now. You see, narcissism aside, I'm pretty confident in my ability and was pretty sure I could make it to Sobu. Seeing me, Komachi has set her sights on the same place as well, though there are many other schools nearby, and is quite vocal about it. But to be honest, her chances of making it are pretty shaky at best, her grades as it is are barely above average and her tendency to socialize at the drop of a hat isn't really making her work any harder towards achieving her goal, as evidenced by her cram school schedule which is quite a bit more leisurely than mine when I was in her position.

"Even with all the encouragement, Hiroshi knows that she might just not make it, though I don't really agree with his way of pampering, he's just going to make it worse if she doesn't make the cut."

"Well then why don't you change this?" I question her method, if she's already aware of it, why doesn't she just take other steps.

"Well I would prefer to soften the blow, but then again, as a parent I have to remain an optimist." She looks at me before she continues again,

"Enough of that, what about you?"

"What about me?" really.

"You decided to become the chairman on a whim didn't you?"

"Yeah…" I don't know where she's taking this.

"Then use this as a launching pad to get over that girl."

What?

"Puppy love isn't something you should allow to come in your way, one girl rejects you," she moves her hand in a sweeping motion, almost falling off the sofa, "You forget about it and move on."

What has my confession to Orimoto got to do with me heading the committee? I mean sure it opened my eyes to the ways in which this world works but…

"Honestly Hachiman," mom moves in cornering me, "be a bit more selfish you know, you've got brains, more so than me and even your dad, make use of that to do something worthwhile," her red cheeks puff slightly as she then moves a bit before speaking again, "Don't let one event dictate your way, especially something as small as a confession."

Giving me a sharp look, she concludes her statement, "It's just annoying for a parent to see their children do nothing to live up to your potential, honestly, you've got a lot more than me or your dad ever had, make something of it." With an air of finality she then somehow stumbles out of the door.

I merely sit back in shock of the event that has just taken place, you see my interactions with my parents are limited, and while mom makes quite a bit of effort, she's quite docile in her approach and I've honestly never seen this side of hers, and I don't intend to see it again either.

Her voice in this had a tone of anger….maybe frustration could be correct. Honestly, even when I did tell her about my confession, she was like, all understanding, treating me to ice-cream and encouraging me, that didn't ever change, but what was with this now?

Moving upstairs, I silently recalled reading somewhere that an intoxicated person does not lie, so was _this_ how mom really felt? I mean I've always been one to appreciate bluntness, but this was too much, even for me.

Lying down on my bed I try to forget everything and sleep but the slumber I so heartily sought moments ago now eludes me, mom's drunk words, blunt as they were, cut in deeper than anything ever had, like sharp knives those words went straight to my heart and somehow cut through my thoughts.

My confession to Orimoto rang again in my mind, how much significance did it play in my life?

Objectively thinking from a third person's point of view, it would suffice to say that over 80% of what I was now was thanks to her rejection and the teasing that followed thereafter. Thinking like that, my interactions currently were also fully, or at the beast heavily influenced by it.

Thinking about that, it was a huge thing when it happened, but was it that significant now? As I had pointed out during the Summer Camp, the chances of actually staying in contact with your classmates once you graduated from school were practically nil, and yet it seems that I've still been stuck there despite now being in my second year of high school, I haven't even bumped into any old acquaintance yet.

Plus looking at it from mom's angle, her view seems pretty justified, at her age…

*Shudder*

A sudden chill ran down my spine as I thought about that, with the memory of punch, well moving on, from where mom sees this, my confession and rejection at such a young age should be nothing more than an insignificant pebble that can be tossed aside to move on the road of life, something that, statistically speaking, happens in the lives of over 70% of the living populace.

And yet, here it still is, like a forced piece of luggage, not only did it influence my choice of high school, but even the places where I prefer to eat and the general way I interact with people, thinking that way, I can't help but throw in this question, is it really that significant?

Why did I confess to her anyway?

Oh that's right, the 'nice girl' attribute, she treated everybody the same, me included. The reason I confessed my so called 'feelings' was because I actually misinterpreted her being nice to me as a sign of affection, something which was a result of a long term social exclusion over my physical attributes, specifically speaking my eyes.

As Yukinoshita has always loved to point out, my dead fish-eyes are somewhat of a put-off, in the ignorance of childhood, my peers ended up excluding me as they found my particular attribute unpleasant, or rather different, unbeknownst to the cruelty inflicted by their actions.

But then again, I wasn't alone was I? I remembered this girl in elementary school who was always bullied by other girls because of her accent and a scar near her eye, then there was this rather large guy whom everyone called 'buta (pig),' and like my 'Hikigerma' there was also a 'Buta-barrier' in the game of tag. Why did I not go and talk to those kids again?

Ah that's right, I always wanted to be with the 'normal' kids and the riajuus, I didn't talk with those guys as nobody else did.

'Tch'

I scowl internally at my own hypocritical attitude, how could I claim to hate riajuus if I myself acted like one?

Fake people act because they have an image to maintain, real people just don't care.

So have I been a fake as well?

Man this is too much to think about.

I shut my eyes tightly and toss over in bed trying to get those thoughts out of my mind, slowly I begin to feel the embrace of sweet slumber with only one thing on my mind,

My eyes feel itchy.

[Next Morning]

*Crash*

'Mmmhh'

*BANG*

"Whoa" I wake up with a jerk as I glance at my clock, 5:25 AM, it's too early even for Komachi to wake up.

*Crash*

There's an unusual amount of noise coming from the kitchen, looks like I'll have to go check myself.

Getting up I groggily walk downstairs and straight into the kitchen to see our resident pet Kamakura running around the dining table as if searching for something, 2 of the chairs and one steel jug are lying on the ground, I believe I know the source of all that noise earlier.

"Kamakura…" I speak in a menacing manner, I value my sleep above all else and I do not take interruptions kindly.

Hearing my voice, and the tone it carried, Kamakura stops all signs of movement and looks at me.

Stop acting innocent you damn cat!

"What's with all the noise, ah Hat-chan," my mom walks in now clutching her head, looks like she's having quite a hangover now.

"It's Kamakura." I say pointing at the cat, or rather where he stood moments before, as Kamakura the great seems to have beaten a hasty retreat.

My mom looks at the mess before choosing to believe me, but its clear from her looks that I have to clean up.

Sighing, I pick up the chairs and put them in their place before picking up the jug. I then proceed to grab a cloth and wipe the spilled water, all as mom sits on a chair still rubbing her temples.

"Would you like some tea mom?" I offer out of empathy, she really looks like she's in pain.

"Some tea would be nice."

I switch on the kettle, fetch the tea stock and soon enough make 2 cups of hot tea for her and myself. Taking a sip I glance at the clock, 5:45 AM, too early to go to school, too late to go back to sleep again.

Damn you Kamakura! I'm seriously gonna leave you outside at night this winter.

'Groan'

"You alright mom?" I'm seriously getting concerned now.

"I'm fine but this headache is killing me, really Hachiman, promise me that you won't drink when you grow up."

I seriously don't think I will, after all, I got a pretty good taste last night.

"Last night?"

Shit, I'm thinking out loud again.

"Hachiman" she speaks in an authoritative voice, "Tell me what happened last night."

"Well, how much do you remember mom?"

"I remember you telling me something about a festival committee in your school and you somehow ending up as the head, all else is a bit fuzzy."

Looks like it's a case of a small memory blackout.

"That aside, did I say something last night Hachiman?"

Well yeah sure, you chastised me and made me rethink about my life, all that still isn't getting out of my head dammit!

Thinking up I come up with a small plan for a revenge, why should I be the only one losing out of sleep? Oh this will be fun, now go 8man!

Releasing a dramatic sigh, I slowly rest my forehead on the table before speaking slowly,

"You grabbed my collar last night and told me that guys like me are the reason for Japan's declining birth rate,"

I pause for effect, looking up I see the color drain from her face before continuing in my usual self-depreciating tone,

"And something about a guy on TV being right and me being a _damned herbivore_."

I carefully manage to keep the tone, sneaking a glance at it I see that any trace of color has been wiped clean from her face, she almost resembles a ghost now.

"H-hat-chan…"

"I'm not lying mom" I look away lightly to connote that I'm hurt by her words, I feel a bit guilty myself but then again I'm really not lying here.

Silence descends on us as mom now continues to stare at the table surface, her face almost as white as snow without a trace of color, slightly uncomfortable at the development I slowly get up and quietly move out of the kitchen and head to the bathroom.

I come out sometime later, since I had nothing better to do I ended up taking a full bath as well, heading up to my room I glance at my clock again, 6:20 AM, hah, looks like I'll be in school earlier than expected.

Moving downstairs after getting dresses I see mom moving around the kitchen, however her movements seem almost robotic.

"Mom?"

She yelps at the mere mention, looks like I hit her harder than expected.

"A-ah Hat-chan, please wait a bit, I'm making you eggs for breakfast."

I take a seat and can't help but smile a bit at her reaction, such a stark contrast to how she was acting last night.

Soon, a plate of 2 eggs served sunny side up along with 2 toasted slices and a glass of milk is placed before me, I proceed to quickly finish my eggs and bread before taking a sip of the sweetened milk, ah truly a good way to start the day,

"Hat-chan" her voice is clearly nervous, "I'm really s-sorry," and meek as well.

"It's alright mom" I attempt to wave her off, truthfully her words have cut deeper but I'm just willing to go with it, atleast for now.

"Like I'm really, really sorry, your dad's colleagues were annoying and I ended up drinking too much and Hat-chan…"

What?

"Your eyes are still red."

I move towards a small mirror we keep in the hallway and look in, my eyes are red all right, also they still feel slightly itchy, and watery as well, strange, I didn't even shampoo today.

"They were red before you bathed too," my mom moves in to examine it, "and they're a bit watery as well." She moves down the hallway, rummages through the drawers before returning with a pair of sunglasses.

"Here, wear these as a protective measure."

Wear sunglasses to school?

"It might just be conjunctivitis, so it's better that you take a precaution, it's too early right now to find a doctor but make sure that you see the school nurse as soon as you can, and here," she puts some cash in my hand, "if necessary, buy some medicine."

Standing still for a moment, she then suddenly places more cash in my hands, correction ,a lot more cash, this time I can actually feel the weight of the notes, that's quite a bit too much for buying eye drops mom…

"And umm…sorryforlastnight!" with a quick response, in what I believe is meant to be an apology she dashes to the bedroom and slams the door, well atleast I got some spending money here.

With the shades covering my eyes I head upstairs, collect my bag and move out, there is a slight chill in the air but everything else seems alright, it's also far quieter than normal, maybe I should try leaving early sometimes.

Mounting my metal steed I slowly pedal in order to warm up my body, in my solitude I cannot help but remember the occurrence of last night, mom actually made me question myself, exactly what am I doing now?

Seeing that the intersection ahead is showing a red light I get down from my bike and walk while pulling it, there are quite a few early birds on the streets, quite a lot of them wearing uniforms of schools I don't even recognize, I just hope that I don't bump into someone from my old middle school here, it would be so…

What could possibly happen actually? Mom's words from last night ring in my mind again as I wonder as to why I have always been so scared of that notion, if I say that I don't care as to what people say about me, why am I so afraid at the premise that I could run into an old acquaintance? Isn't that an irony in itself?

Also what if the people at Sobu came to know that I was shot down in middle school, I can bet it happened to a hundred other guys as well, maybe 100 is an exaggeration but I'm sure it's a good ballpark figure, plus it's already been 2 years since then, am I still stuck with that?

'oof'

"Watch where you're going, creep."

I see a mop of red as some girl randomly bumps into my shoulder before moving on, a closer analysis reveals her to be the girls representative of the festival from my class, it's not my fault dammit!

Or maybe it is, I'm thinking too much while walking, that can be quite dangerous, but still not as dangerous as walking on the road with your ears plugged when there's a red signal….

Wait a sec…

I push aside my bike and let my bag slip as I rush forward, shouting will be practically useless as she's clearly unable to hear the warnings of other bystanders, I manage to grab hold of her shoulders and push her using my body weight before the approaching car can mow her down, while midair I attempt to cushion her fall by pushing my body between the granite walkway and her body.

'Ouch'

Great, my shoulder hurts, but from the looks of it I'm quite alright, the car wasn't really speeding and from the tracks I see that the driver applied his brakes quite early, while this hadn't been life threatening, she could've been seriously hurt.

I get up slowly and dust myself, there are no traces of blood, I rotate my shoulder to check, a bit of pain but nothing looks broken, she wasn't really that heavy and the constant biking has gives me quite a sturdy body.

Registering my own well being I look over at her, she's sitting still as if in a trance, looks like she's understood what actually transpired here in the last few moments.

"Are you alright?"

I offer her my hand out of courtesy, looking up at me she meekly gives me her hand and I help her to her feet, she doesn't look hurt, maybe a bit shaken up by the incident but no marks of physical injury.

"Well please be more careful from now on." I adjust my collar before noticing the lack of sunglasses in front of my eyes, glancing over, I see them near the pole, picking them up, I proceed to cross the road, on a green signal ofcourse, collecting my belongings, sitting on my bike and making it to school, Saga-something should be able to take care of herself, or I'm sure someone from the crowd that gathered would help, I'm not really good at dealing with people.

Reaching my destination, I park my bike before making my way to the bathroom first, so now lets see again, shoulder, still a bit numb but okay otherwise, hair, a mess, uniform, a mess, no traces of any blood, eyes, still red, looks like I do have conjunctivitis.

I take a few minutes to wash my face and fix my appearance, while I have never been one to care much about my appearance, even I know that going in like this would just be plain impolite to the student council members and Shiromeguri-senpai who have only treated me with kindness till now.

About five minutes later I've somewhat fixed my uniform and my hair, well I've never dressed immaculately to begin with so this should do. Putting on my sunglasses I pick up my bag and head to the student council room.

Standing before the room, I check the time on my phone, 7:03 AM, well I wouldn't call myself late.

*Knock*

"Please come in." looks like the council president's already arrived, taking cue from the response I slide the door and move inside.

"Ah, thank you for coming in early…" Wait is that Shiromeguri-senpai? Why is she looking at me like that?

…Hikigaya-k-kun."

I don't really look that bad now do I? Is it the sunglasses? But really it's senpai who looks different today…

"Umm is there something on my face Hikigaya-kun?"

Looks like I've stared too long, but hey you can't really blame me, I've never seen her without her signature pigtails.

"Nothing really, you just look different senpai and I'm having a bit of a problem seeing right now." I answer in a nonchalant manner.

"Ah, well you see I overslept a bit and didn't have time to do my hair," she answers with her usual smile, "by the way Hikigaya-kun, why are you wearing sunglasses inside?"

"Conjunctivitis." I give her a one word answer, she nods in an understanding manner before speaking.

"Are you alright?" her tone is a bit concerned.

"Yeah, nothing much." I wave it off and she seems to agree.

"Well then Hikigaya-kun, I need you to…" I sign a few documents and give her a specimen signature, apparently these are to be submitted to the principal when he arrives this morning so that the festival budget can be officially sanctioned by Sobu and the resources are fully made available to the committee.

"Ah thank you very much Hikigaya-kun, your seal should be ready by the time classes end, please try to come in a bit early to the meeting." I look at her before nodding, no feelings here but she actually looks better without those pigtails, free hair must be a pain to handle for her to tie them everyday.

I slowly get up from my chair and stretch a bit before yawning, ah sleep-sama, how I have betrayed though…

Why is Shiromeguri-senpai giving me that odd look?

Oh right, I forgot to cover my mouth when yawning, be courteous to this sweet girl Hachiman!

"Didn't sleep well?" she questions me curiously.

"Well I had to stay up last night as my parents forgot the key," I pause before resuming on a grumpier note, "and our cat suddenly decided it would be fun to play in the kitchen early this morning."

"You have a cat?" Shiromeguri senpai giggles at my comment before asking another question.

Well I'm not really a fan of small talk, but as long as I'm not being insulted and denigrated by the other party, I'm game.

"Yeah, his name is Kamakura, he's normally too lazy to do stuff like this normally but he starts acting up as soon as he sees something like a mouse or a big insect."

"I'm sure Kamakura-san is apologetic for interrupting your sleep Hikigaya-kun."

"Well he'd better be," I add in a tone somewhat tinged by malice, "Or he's gonna be sleeping outside the house this winter."

"Hikigaya-kun," Shiromeguri-senpai suddenly grabs my free hand with both her hands and looks me straight in the eye.

What the hell woman!

"Promise me," her grip on my hand tightens and I'm unable to look away,

 _I promise, in sickness and in health…_

"Promise me you won't hurt the innocent animal."

Oh so that's it huh? Kamakura, man, you managed to get an admirer before me huh.

"Well, as long as he doesn't spoil my sleep again." I mutter out an answer slowly and turn my head to look away.

"Mmmhh, good." She lets go of my hand and then walks over to the desk before picking up the documents I signed.

"I'll be taking these to the principal's office now, see you at the meeting Hikigaya-kun."

"Yeah, see you later senpai."

With that she's off.

I can't help but smile to myself at this, this somehow felt good, mom's words from last night reverberate in my mind, it's time to move on huh?

Being the committee chairman might not actually be that bad.

* * *

 **And no, this isn't a crack pairing fic, or maybe it is...**

 **So here's the new chapter in this project, 8man leads the way.**

 **PS**

 **HarimaHige: Thank You! And I shall cover all that soon in the upcoming chapters.**

 **Sr. LaughingStalk is cringey: Thaaanks!**

 **Flash Falcon: he truly does, and btw I was on a vacation in the islands, a little sun and sand are wonderful in your life.**

 **Zallow: I am honored. I hope you like how this goes now.**

 **NPwall: Thanks!**

 **BentShuriken: Thanks! You're a perceptive one, really.**

 **hikigaya: Thanks! well I figured that was the way to go.**

 **narutoDkurosaki: I hope this allays your fears.**

 **A Fool's Treasure: The Harubomb is yet to be dropped!**

 **RalphZiggy: Thanks a lot!**

 **As usual, feel free to leave your reviews and suggestions, they are highly sought.**


	4. The Trickle slowly becomes a stream

**Hey there everybody, we have yet another chapter.**

* * *

 **(8man PoV)**

Swinging my bag over my shoulder I wince slightly in pain, looks like still too sore to be subjected to this daily grind. Putting the bag down I take out my phone to look at the time, 7: 35 AM, all that signing sure didn't take much time.

Dragging my bag along I choose to put it on my desk, surprisingly there are quite a few bags already at their places in class, must be those from the sports clubs, early practice has got to suck. Taking off my blazer, I move out of the class I head into the washroom again and look at myself in the mirror, before unbuttoning my shirt and taking it off, I'm bruised alright, and looks like it's slightly bleeding as well.

Turning on the tap and using my handkerchief I manage to wash off the blood and dry myself, I need to disinfect this as well, can't cause too much trouble for my own body.

Getting out of the bathroom I move towards the nurse's office, as the enthusiastic riajuus in the sports clubs tend to be injured in their practices, you can always count on the nurse being early. Reaching the door, I knock slightly.

"Please come in." a soft voice answers, since when did that hoarse hag sound this soft? Maybe cause it's still morning.

I slide the door and enter to see that instead of the old school nurse, there's a beautiful young girl, maybe around Yukinoshita's sister's age sitting in her chair, did the school hire a new nurse? If so I'm really grateful and would love to fall sick…

"Um…Hello." She speaks nervously, I hope I haven't been staring too long.

"Ah, good morning miss…" man I'm nervous now.

"Ayami, Kitawa Ayami, my aunt Shiyomi-san had to suddenly go the football field so I'm just waiting for her."

Oh so she's the hag's niece huh, well looks like I'll have to wait until she gets back. I proceed to walk in and take a seat on a stool, as far as possible from Kitawa-san.

But it costs me, since I wasn't really paying attention while sitting, I failed to notice that the stool was wobbly, I managed to keep myself from falling down but my bruised shoulder collided with the metal edge of one of the beds, I'm pretty sure I screamed before biting my lips.

"Are you all right?" Kitawa-san moves over to help me, she sounds quite concerned.

"Well, yeah, I just took a fall on the way to school, and it's hurting a bit now." I explain in a mild tone, "Plus my eyes aren't really helpful now."

She looks over at me before noticing my sunglasses and speaking.

"Conjunctivitis?"

"Could be, but I'm not sure"

"Oh then, wait a sec." She walks over to the cupboard before retrieving a few supplies and gesturing me to move over to her chair, following her silent command I sit quietly on the nearest stool after making sure that it's balanced this time.

By the way, is she qualified to do all this?

"I'm a medical student, I'm helping my aunt here during break." She answers, I wasn't thinking out loud was I?

"I can understand that," she puts the supplies on the table, "You looked nervous from the moment you walked in,…"

Why'd she pause? Ah how rude of me.

"Hachiman, Hikigaya Hachiman, I'm from class 2-F."

"Ah then Hikigaya-san, since my aunt isn't here, I'll look over you," she speaks as she fills in the my details on a register, "Since your injury is obviously painful, we'll take a look at that before."

So I really did scream huh?

Blushing slightly I take off my shirt, Kitawa-san takes my wrist and pulls me in closer to inspect my bruise, I blush at the unexpected gesture before looking at her to see that she's giving me an odd look.

"Is something the matter Hikigaya-san?"

"Ummm, it's just that it didn't hurt this much when I fell…infact it started to hurt more just about now." I mutter out a response, hey it isn't my fault, my family doctor is an old coot, this is my first time to actually be in acute physical proximity of a beautiful girl that isn't my sister.

"Ah that is quite understandable," her attention returns to my bruise again, "You see Hikigaya-san, when you get particularly excited, such as in moments of fervor or fear, your body secretes adrenalin, the same happened when you were taking the fall." She looks up at me before continuing with her explanation, "the adrenalin rush acts as a temporary painkiller, thus you truly experience the pain only when it begins to fade away, judging from the fact that you fell on your way, and then probably walked over to school, your adrenalin rush extended. You only began feeling the pain sometime after you stopped moving, you were injured maybe about half an hour, or 45 minutes before."

She's gonna be a damn good doctor, I can tell you that.

"We will need to disinfect it," she wears a glove and takes what I assume is a cotton dab dipped in disinfectant, "This might sting a little."

Sting was an understatement.

About 10 minutes later I'm wearing my shirt again, my wound is disinfected and bandaged quite carefully, I hope you locate your clinic in Chiba when you graduate Kitawa-san, I'll be glad to be your first patient.

"This should heal in a few days. Now for your eyes Hikigaya-san."

I take off my sunglasses as I notice her put on a thick pair of transparent ones. Her face nears mine as she peers into my now bloodshot dead fish-eyes.

She goes through the standard routine, checking my eyes, asking if my eyes itch, if they're watery etc. to which I reply in affirmative.

"It's conjunctivitis all right," she makes her conclusion gesturing me to put my sunglasses back on, which I do.

"Although it fades away itself in a week or two, take these eyedrops once a day before you sleep." She gives me a slip, "And make sure that you contact your doctor if the irritation persists even after 14 days."

"Ayami-" a hoarse voice calls as the door is slammed open, "Ah there's someone here."

"Hey there auntie!" Kitawa-san responds in a cheerful voice, "I just treated my first patient."

So I'm your first? I'm glad.

The old hag looks at me with amusement before looking at Kitawa-san again.

"Hikigaya-san here had a bruise and a case of Conjunctivitis, I wrapped him up and wrote him some medicine."

"Well, so long as he's alright," she glances over to me as I nod.

"Thank you very much for your service." I get up from my stool and move out pocketing the slip of prescription, for the first time I'm actually happy with the rom-com gods here, I've been fully revitalized by being treated by Kitawa-san.

'Bzzz'

My phone vibrates in my pocket, strange, who's messaging me this early? Don't tell me Shiromeguri-senpai forgot something again.

I take out my phone to see the contact name that most rarely sends me a message, my dad. What does the old man want? I click on the message to see its contents.

 _Dinner. 6:30 PM, Kiyoshi's Grill._

I turn off the screen and resume my walk to class, we're eating out today? If so why didn't mom or Komachi text me instead? But then whatever, maybe mom's still feeling guilty and this is my treat. If so then it's great!

I make a turn and head to the water cooler now, since I just had a glass of milk before I left home I don't feel like having a can of MAXX, but I'm still thirsty.

Reaching the cooler I take a large swig of water and head back towards class, however I choose the wrong moment to activate autopilot as someone bumps into me at the corner, I wince slightly, it may not hurt as much, but a bruise is still a bruise dammit!

Looking up I notice a familiar mop of red hair, what's her name again? Saga, Saga…I really need to know basic things like names, well anyway it looks like Saga-something is showing a look of concern as I continue to rub my shoulder.

"Y-"

"Are you hurt?"

My lame greeting is cut by her almost aggressive statement of concern.

"Well, uh… my shoulder's bruised but the nurse said it should heal in a few days." I manage to give her an answer as I look away from her, I'm really not good with the aggressive types.

Saga-something then proceeds to give me a look I find myself unable to read. Then muttering something under her breath she makes her way towards the washrooms, well it's good to see that she's not hurt.

Finally making it to class I see a significant rise in the classroom populace, most of the social cliques, including the topmost clique of Hayama the great have assembled to wage their daily war for upkeeping and uplifting their position in the social ladder of Sobu high school.

What a feudalistic society. Those at the top are there due to their looks or their money, few scrape in with extensive social skills, those not at the top seek to ensure their position by any way, changing cliques, abandoning friends and doing whatever is necessary to gain favor with those at the top.

This is not simply a high school phenomena, but begins from an early age. The girl with whom you used to make sandcastles in your childhood will swear on her life that she has never met you earlier in her life just to keep up her social position in class; the guy with whom you shared your cars will simply say that he doesn't even remember living in the area, likewise.

Source: Me.

Just why am I thinking all this again? Maybe it's just become a habit, the rottenness of society is pain enough for me, and with these old memories… maybe I do need to get a move on.

Breaking my thoughts I sit on my desk and note the time, it's barely over 5 minutes for the first class to begin, best to try and not fall asleep, with that short term goal on my mind I retrieve my supplies from my bag, shortly the teacher walks in and the lecture begins.

2 mins… I'm beginning to feel drowsy, but my 8man sense is tingling, so I must not sleep.

5 mins… musn't sleep…

10 mins…zzz

(After Class)

"-kitani-kun!"

Huh?

I urge myself to awaken from the depths of sweet slumber, the class is sure making quite a lot of noise indicating that the first class has ended and the small break has commenced.

"Hikitani-kun!"

I turn to the blackboard to see the fujoshi of the top clique call out to me, behind her on the blackboard I am vaguely able to see my name spelt out beneath the heading 'Class Play.'

NO!

I awaken myself fully and rush to the blackboard, on the top, beneath the heading is the name of the play, _'Le Petit Prince,'_ surprisingly we're going for something deep here…

But that's not the point dammit!

I move my gaze downwards to see my name written in front of the character 'Pilot,' that's like the lead role, shit! Besides my name is that of the class favorite, Hayama Hayato, who is the Prince.

I stare slack jawed at the board, I've got enough dealing to do with people as it stands, I can't take more!

"Need an explanation?" the resident fujoshi adjusts her glasses like a professional before speaking, you're really enjoying this aren't you?

"No, can't do, I've got committee work." There, I have the perfect counter.

"He he he" she cackles like a witch, you got something to one-up me on this? Looking behind her I can see Hayama who has buried his face in his hands, she's got him, but you won't get me!

"I thought you would say that Hikitani-kun." She chuckles mirthfully, "But you see, Hiratsuka-sensei already took the list for the play to the principal's office when you were asleep."

What!? That deranged, middle-aged single woman! That's why nobody wants to marry you!

I sink into despair as my knees give in under me, I'm now in soup again for ignoring my 8man sense and sleeping.

Curse you Kamakura! I swear you're sleeping outside now, no matter what!

"But the play will require regular practice, and I've got to be at all the meetings as the chairman." I mount my last defense, I glance over at Hayama who is still wallowing in his own despair, support me dammit! I know you don't wanna be the Prince here either!

"Ah, Hayato said the same about volunteering for the committee, so we decided to keep the practice sessions in the morning. Now c'mon Hikio get up!"

The fire queen uses her brazenly destructive flames to reduce my last defense to ashes, I reluctantly get up and head to my desk, my expression mirroring that of Hayama, I slowly take in everything written on the board.

As expected, the entire top clique is in, fujoshi Ebina Hina is doing the direction and screenplay, the fire queen Miura Yumiko is the incharge of PR and advertising, Yuigahama is…executive producer? Do we need that? I mean like, it's me who'll be allocating the budget to you guys anyway, then the other roles are taken up by those loud guys. Why am I even in?

"Oi Hikio! Get your ass here!" the fire queen issues her proclamation demanding the peasant to be present at the altar, I silently bow and obey.

I'm seated right next to Hayama as his entire gang surrounds us, standing before us, Ebina begins explaining how HayaxHachi factor… or whatever it is, is going to pull in the audience before looking at me.

"Why are you still wearing sunglasses Hikitani-kun?" She has a slightly nasty grin on her face.

"Conjunctivitis." I tiredly explain. She grins even more before resuming her speech,

"Ah, dark glasses, truly they will add to the appeal of the sulking pilot as the prince skillfully seduces him with his gentle and peaceful words." A trickle of blood escapes her nose, that's not how the story goes, you'll seriously piss off the French.

"So what remains now?" Yuigahama quips in, clipboard in hand, you're incharge of writing? Who the hell chose you?

"I think it's the costumes." Miura quips in, everyone starts a discussion on costumes and who should wear what, I take the opportunity to push back my chair and atleast get out of the 'core' of the group.

I breathe in relief after being freed, this festival is going to drain me for sure. Glancing over the class, my sunglasses covered eyes meet jade-green ones of my perceived delinquent classmate, Kawa-I really need to start remembering names. Well Kawa-something is, as usual, sitting all by herself, even amongst the chaos, she's still by herself.

The mental images of the scarred girl and 'buta' boy enter my mind again, Kawasaki, like them, and like me has often been misunderstood for no fault of hers, though I understand that solitude is preferred now, loneliness is something I can sympathize with. I don't know why, but an urge to help her somehow overcomes me, I never talked to the other mentioned people, but I can do something now.

In between the heated discussion I tap on Ebina's elbow, who then proceeds to give me a questioning look. Replying to her unasked questions I tilt my head towards Kawa-something, I hope Ebina gets the message.

"-And so for costumes." She announces loudly after giving me a small nod, "Kawasaki-san!" So it's Kawasaki huh.

"Ehh, m-me?" the ex-delinquent flusters as she is suddenly pulled in by an aggressive Ebina who then proceeds to check on all of her skills. I make a mental note to remember her name.

This jumbled mass of a meeting ends as soon as the bell for the second class is rung. Trudging over to my desk I find myself unable to believe as to how efficient it really went. As it stands, the characters and roles have been finalized, all the actors, me included, are advised to read the book atleast once before reading the script Ebina will send us latest by tomorrow morning practice.

I groan silently as I sit, this just reminded me that since I'm not going to be free post-classes, I've to be present here everyday by 6: 30 in the morning for practice. This festival just keeps going from bad to worse.

(Lunchtime)

I leisurely walk to the cafeteria find myself buying 2 breads for a change, courtesy of the extra cash I've been given this morning. Opening one packet I start my usual walk towards my favorite lunch-spot when suddenly…

'Bzzz'

I take out my phone to see Shiromguri-senpai's name flash before my eyes, looks like I'm needed in the StuCo room right now.

Reluctantly changing my path I trek to the StuCo room and knock.

"Please come in."

I quickly take the last bite from my unfinished bread, slide the door and move in.

"Ah Hikigaya-kun, please come here." Shiromeguri-senpai speaks from behind her desk, which is currently groaning under the substantial amount of paperwork she appears to be doing. I move over to her desk and take a seat after picking up a few papers that had fallen down.

"Ah thank you Hikigaya-kun," Shiromeguri senpai hands me a zip-locked plastic bag, "in this are your and the vice-chairman's seals, please make sure that you give them to Yukinoshita-san at the meeting."

"Certainly," I take the bag and open it, Yukinoshita's seal isn't anything special, just a plain 'Vice-Chairman, Approved' while my own seal is rather intricate, it has 'Chairman' written on the top, my signature in the middle and 'Approved' printed at the bottom, all in fancy font. Man I'm actually feeling important.

"And ummm…Hikigaya-kun, though it's not highly recommended that you skip classes, do feel free to do that if the workload gets a bit too much. You can use this room if you so wish."

I can skip classes!? Being the chairman is the best! I try my hardest to keep a grin from appearing on my face.

"Ahh…and here," she gives me a bunch of papers, "This is the standard layout of the committee, it's been followed since quite some time, please look at it and see if you have something you have to add to it." She says it in an off-handed manner, looks like she isn't expecting much input from me on this, still my curiosity gets the better of me as I take a peek through the pages. Senpai leaves midway as lunch ends, but I plan to take full advantage of the privilege of being able to skip classes.

As I read the document, I learn more about the structure that the committee has had over the years. Broadly, looking at the committee structures of last 3 years, the committee has five sections.

Firstly there's PR and advertising. These guys are in here are responsible for promoting this 'youthful' event across the city so that we can get maximum visitors, and by that I mean that they can drag in enough people to spend money.

Secondly, there is volunteer management. This section basically has two objectives, first is to try and get more students from within the school to act as 'volunteers' in the festival as only 2 persons per class is just an inadequate number of hands on deck. The second objective is to garner 'volunteer groups' from inside and outside the school who can basically come and perform for free on the stage, a local award is generally kept in order to have a greater turnout of groups.

Thirdly, there is event management. By and far, this one is the largest when sheer number of people is considered. But then again, this section is stuck with the rather tedious job of syncing with all the classes and deal with the issues of space allocation, resource availability etc. for all the events that will be hosted by different classes. Not only the classes, but also the individual stalls to be put up, and managing the requirements of the volunteer groups comes in their purview as well.

Fourthly, there is finance management. The students under this section are charged with allocation of funds to different classes as well as different sections and volunteers, all budgetary allocations are made by the finance section and come into effect only after the seal of the chairman has been put on them.

Lastly, we have the paperwork division, where I would most probably have ended up if not for this. This is, bluntly put, the 'grunt' section of the committee. All the paperwork of the other sections is to be done by this division, which basically means that a ton of work can just easily be offloaded onto the 'grunts' here by the riajuus of the other sections. The reason I would've ended up here is that this division has the least amount of social interactions involved, and like me in school, is considered to be at the bottom of the hierarchy…

Well, whatever, the point is I'm not there, but quite a few people will be. Knowing the popular riajuus, they'll flood the other sections and those who are at the bottom of the social hierarchy will be pushed into the paperwork division, forced to do the work of all others as they will not be able to refuse to those 'superior' to them. What a feudalistic society, and here we claim that we live in a modern world where everyone is equal and free, bullshit.

Thinking about all this just really pisses me off for some reason, I mean really, I should be happy about not being stuck there and yet I can't shake this feeling of anger, even though those guys who are going to be stuck in the paperwork division mean nothing to me, even though I don't know the names of everyone in the committee, I'm just simply pissed off at this realization, and yet I…

Yet I…

Hey I _can_ actually do something here.

Is this why I was feeling pissed off? I haven't really _ever_ been in a position wherein I can change things, society as I see it is rotten to the core, and changing society as Yukinoshita put it is just a pain, and yet here I can actually do something about this, but what? More importantly why? Doing anything here has no meaning for me does it?

But then again, neither did saving that dog, it was just a spur of the moment, something I felt I should do, it was like…the correct thing to do?

I honestly don't know, but hey I have a chance to make riajuus actually bleed here, figuratively speaking atleast, I'll make them work! This is my revenge!

But the question of method still remains.

Maybe I can get a list of all the committee members and volunteers, divide them on basis of popularity and all that stuff and stuff the top riajuus into the paperwork department, that's right!

Yeah, like it'll work. As it stands I barely know people from my class, let alone my year. Simply going by the sheer volume, such a division will be impossible, not to mention that even the basis of my division in itself is not quantifiable.

But then…

An idea suddenly strikes my head, it is actually quite devilish, but it may just work. However I'll need to talk to Shiromeguri-senpai about doing something so big.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly type a message.

 _Shiromeguri-senpai, I'm thinking about restructuring the committee a bit this year, could you please drop by the StuCo room whenever you are free._

There, done, now to go into the intricacies of my committee restructuring proposal.

(After current class ends)

*Knock*

"Please come in." hey it's actually fun to respond sometimes.

"Ah Hikigaya-kun, what is it you wanted to discuss?" Shiromeguri-senpai returns all smiles, I just hope her smile survives the bomb I'm about to drop on her.

Senpai moves a bit before taking her seat behind her desk, I wait until she is seated and then finally speak.

"You see senpai I was thinking that this year…"

Well, judging from her jaw that is still hanging, I think I may have slightly overdone it, but hey I'm the boss here.

"B-but Hikigaya-kun…"

She stutters slightly as she tries to convince me against it, but I really want to taste riajuu blood here.

"I can do it, can't I senpai?" I raise a technical point to distract her.

"U-um yes you can structure the committee as you like since you are the chairman, b-but,"

But what? C'mon senpai its probably for the first time in years that I've actually been this excited about something.

"T-this is the structure Haruno-senpai created when she…"

The mention of that name catches my attention, should've guessed. Yukinoshita Haruno, she was the chairman of this committee when she was in this school, this structure screams that it is her creation.

Afterall, this is just like her, fake.

It gives the illusion that the first four divisions are working their asses off while the clerks in the paperwork division are simply filing away, enjoying and slacking when they choose, while the same can be no farther from the truth.

My desire to see this through is even more stronger than it was before, even though I just met the woman once,…well I just kinda hate her, she's created the ideal structure here, which, just like her ideal self isn't real.

"So I have to pass an order to do this senpai?"

"Y-yes, you need to type it and stamp it yourself, then make 3 copies of it, one for the record, one for formal communication to the school and one for general use, though more might be needed."

I nod at her statement, I already took the liberty of typing an order and printing it, so all that's left to do is stamp.

"T-though it might be better if you run this by Yukinoshita-san first." Senpai adds on nervously, hoping to make me somehow sway.

So Yukinoshita huh? Well I think I could've texted her but I don't have her contact information, but then again I don't think she'll mind this, all I need to do to convince her is drop her sister's name, I think that'll suffice.

"Nah, it's okay senpai, I don't think she'll mind." I put the printed copy of the order in front of her, reading it, she hands it back to me, a resigned look on her face, looks like she's given up.

Silently standing up she opens a drawer and puts a stamp pad in front of me, now it's all me from here on.

I take out my seal from my pocket and press it on the stamp pad, taking a deep breath I raise my hand again and stamp the order, my first decision as the committee chairman, it's set in stone now. Shiromeguri-senpai takes the paper from me and moves to the printer, she puts it in and presses a few buttons to make copies before speaking.

"I'll take a copy to the principal's office now, but we'll need to convene a StuCo meeting before the committee assembles this afternoon, I'll need you to be there Hikigaya-kun." I nod at her statement, though her biting her lip indicates she has more to say.

Senpai flusters a bit under my stare before speaking,

"Its just that I never expected you to propose something like this Hikigaya-kun, committee heads over the past years have followed that structure without change." I detect a note of honest curiosity in her voice.

"Well, as it may appear, I don't think I can be called normal senpai."

She chuckles at my comment before collecting the copies,

"Well, it's your committee Hikigaya-kun, you can run it any way you want." With that she exits the room with a few copies, well time to chalk out the workings myself.

(After classes end)

I currently sit on one end of the table, opposite to me Shiromeguri-senpai stands and explains my decision regarding the restructuring to the council members, few of them give me odd looks but nothing more, soon the short meeting ends and I head towards the conference room.

Today is the day when all the members will be formally divided into the sections and start their work by the next hour, the assigning normally doesn't take more than half an hour, it's usually preference based but those 'without preferences' are generally given the 'grunt' division, well nothing like that is gonna happen now.

I enter the conference room to see that Yukinoshita is already seated in her place, there are a few people chatting around but the meeting is yet to begin, well I'm already 8 minutes early so it should be okay. Moving over I take my seat and glance over the room, in the next hour everybody here will be divided into the sections and begin their work immediately, afterall we barely have 2 weeks before the festival.

Turning over to my left, I see Yukinoshita give me an odd look, what is it?

"What?" I voice my thoughts.

"It is unexpected that you have come in before the meeting begins, or rather I never expected you to come to the meeting at all, after all that you said yesterday Hiki-lazy-kun." A well worded reply topped with an insult, I present to you the master, or rather mistress of the blades, Yukinoshita Yukino.

"That so?" I give her a reply and sink into my rather comfortable chair as I glance around the room, most of the members are already in attendance, all that's left now is for Shiromeguri-senpai to initiate.

"Everyone, please take your seats, we'll formally begin the meeting now." The signal has been given, everyone takes their seats and gazes at our table, with me at the centre and Yukinoshita and Shiromeguri-senpai on either sides, heh, I almost sound like a playboy.

"So then, onto the chairman." Shiromeguri-senpai looks at me once before taking her seat. Well looks like its showtime now.

I slowly get up from my seat and look at the assembled strength, don't misunderstand me, I don't have a stage fright or anything, but it's just that dealing with people, a particularly large number with riajuus that is, is not one of my 108 special skills.

I see a lot of the assembled people giving me curious stares as I stood up and remained silent, don't look at me dammit! You're just making it worse!

A faint movement from my side suddenly drew my attention. From the corner of my eye I saw Yukinoshita giving me a look like he had given me when I had been forced onto her by Hiratsuka-sensei when she had given me the speech about how her life purpose was to help 'lower beings' like me. She had clenched the documents in her hand and I could tell she was ready to take over the reins as and when required. I would have been content with that, said a few words and let her take over, even if these people thought of me as incompetent. After all, I didn't really care about what people thought about me.

But it was one thing that I saw in her eyes, which I had presumably seen earlier, but this time I was sure, it was that one feeling which prevented me from letting her take over. The one thing that I saw in her eyes,

Pity.

I clenched my fist in anger, something I have evidently not felt in quite some time. I did not mind being ostracized by my peers, I didn't mind being the butt of jokes or taking insults for that matter. The people around me who did these things never mattered, I would possibly never see them again once this 'youthful' high school phase of my life would pass.

But pity was not something I had ever been shown… well possibly Hiratsuka-sensei did that, but I simply ignored it, thinking about it just made me depressed.

But now I was just plain mad, I wasn't pitiful, rotten, yes, in need of help, possibly, but one thing I absolutely did not want or need was pity, especially coming from someone who barely knew anything about me. I don't know if it was my man's pride or something but clearly something in me snapped, I had ignored sensei's looks believing that she felt compassionate, as if she saw herself within me, but now I was sure of what this was,

and I hated it.

I instinctively took a deep breath and calmed down before looking at the assembled people again, it seems that my anger had managed to calm my stage fri…it looks like my anger had helped me ease in an area outside of my 108 special skills. Coughing a bit to get everybody's attention, I spoke,

"The agenda of today's meeting is to formally divide the committee into sections. Most of you would've already sent mails to the student council regarding the choice of your sub-division." I paused a bit before continuing, "but this year, we will be going with a slightly different structure as compared to the previous years."

Everybody was now giving me curious glances, guess it's time to drop the bomb.

"This year, we will be having 4 divisions in the committee, PR and advertising, volunteer management, event management and finance," I could see that there were quite a few odd looks from the people, "As it is, from this year on…"

"The paperwork division is officially disbanded."

* * *

 **So, I think I'm finally able to write decently lengthy chapters now.**

 **Anyways, I'll be working on my other stories now, so enjoy!**

 **PS**

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 **Guest: please do breathe, and that's a crack pairing, so, maybe.**

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 **Please feel free to leave your highly sought reviews and any suggestions.**

 **See ya next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, exams are over, and I'm back!**

* * *

"…the paperwork division is officially disbanded."

My announcement causes quite a few raised eyebrows as many of the room's occupants eye me in a puzzled manner. However since there is a noted absence of any vocal discontent at my decision, I choose to continue.

"This year all the committee members are to turn in the notes and official documents by themselves. All the necessary paperwork pertaining to any event will be done by the members of the concerned sub-division and submitted for approval to the finance division by the other division heads." I receive a few nods of understanding but no one can miss the nervous tension that has developed since my announcement. Most of the riajuus who know how the committee functions are now clearly aware that they can no longer offload all their work on the poor grunts; you'll have to file all your work by your own self now.

Mwahahahaha!

"Now, over to the vice-president." Suppressing the urge to cackle like a mad villain I take my seat as the ice queen takes the mantle.

"The division heads for the duration of this committee are…" she goes on to announce the names as I absentmindedly take note, except for the finance division which will be directly under the vice-president the other three divisions are headed by people…well I don't really know them but I think I'll have to, for the sake of completing all future tasks that is.

Heh, I'm already thinking like a corporate slave. Curse you Hiratsuka-sensei!

"…and that will be all, thank you everyone." The Yuki-express finally stops as I can hear a few people visibly sigh in relief. Not that I can actually blame them for that, while highly informative in all it sounded as boring as a math class; one with a really strict teacher at that.

"Then everyone let's do our best!" Shiromeguri-senpai officially concludes the meeting as the other members of the StuCo put up the lists with the _four_ divisions and their respective members. Soon everyone in the room flips out their respective phones and begin exchanging contact information of their co-workers. Just like when…

…

"Hikigari-san," I hear a voice call out to me, turning my head I face the errant person responsible for pausing my painful flashback from when we changed classes in middle school…

…I should actually be grateful for the interruption.

"It is Hikigaya, Hikigaya Hachiman." I absentmindedly correct the speaker to see that it is actually a girl.

"Ah, my sincere apologies Hikigaya-san, my name is Kazeki Shiori." She speaks as I take in her appearance, shoulder length brown hair and pale green eyes.

I do not dare to pry any further.

"Ah, the PR and advertising head." Thank goodness I paid attention when Yukinoshita spoke.

"Indeed Hikigaya-san, I had a few questions on the promotional budget and a few other things."

Well, since I'm the chairman anyway.

"Sure, let's see what we have," I get up from my chair and pull over another one for her to the other side of the table, an action that gets me raised eyebrows from Kazeki as well as the ice queen.

Hey even though I might not look like it, I'm still well versed with common etiquette.

"So Kazeki-san…may I refer to you as Kazeki instead?" I speak as I take my own seat after her.

"Sure Hikigaya, now you see…" Our discussion drags on for about half an hour with a few other members from her division joining in. As the case is the PR division has ended up with less people in comparison to the need, there is an issue as the official invite for the festival is still incomplete despite the repeated extensions given to the Arts Club and may other issues.

"…so in that case I'll relay a message to the volunteering division that you won't be needing too many people, and I'll run the domain space issue with the administration." I conclude the discussion as I receive an approving nod from Kazeki.

"Thanks for that Hikigaya, we'll report tomorrow." With that they take off and I sigh in relief, one down…

…Many more to go!?

I see quite a few expectant heads glance in my direction as the PR group leaves, looks like this isn't going to end anytime soon.

"Ah, Hikigaya-san, I'm Suzuki Mizuto." Great, the volunteers division now.

"So you see Hikigaya-san…" the discussions keep coming on going as one after the other people start assaulting me with their complaints, and most notably concerns. Since the dissolution of the paperwork division has caused quite a tizzy everyone is just wondering just what they are supposed to do now, and as the committee chairman it is my _duty_ to address all of that.

Ah, the joys of being a worker.

I slump into my chair as the last of the group leaves me. For someone who is normally not used to dealing with people this sudden surge of social activity can be quiet draining. Glancing over at the clock I see that there's a good quarter of an hour left before we officially break for the day, has time slowed down?

"Where are you going?" Yukinoshita questions my actions as I get up from my seat and walk to the door. Do you think I'll run away? It actually sounds like a really good option given the current circumstances, but seeing _that_ look in your eyes just hurt my supposedly non-existent pride.

"I need a drink," with that I'm out. Feeding a coin into the vending machine I savor the taste of MAX Coffee, the sweetness soothing my troubled brain from the torrent of social interactions it just had to endure.

'Bzzz'

I pull out my phone to see an e-mail from a previously unknown source, touching on the notification I open the mail and check on its contents.

" _Hikitani-kun, the time for practice has been decided at 6: 30 tomorrow morning, please find the attached script and try to memorize a few of your dialogues._

 _Always backing you for HayaXHachi._

 _Ebina Hina."_

I sigh as I'm reminded of my additional tasks, not only do I have to ensure the proper functioning of the festival but I'm also playing a lead role in a class play.

The true epitome of youth, it's just too tiring.

But from where did she get my number anyways?

I re-read the e-mail after downloading the attachment to see that Ebina has also given me her number in case of any confusion. Tapping on the number I click on the save option. Opening the contacts I fiddle a bit with my phone to check on the new contact, now I'm pretty good with technology in general, but this is the first time I've had to scroll to find a contact. Almost everyone I interacted with today ended up exchanging contact information.

Guess I have something to show to Komachi for today.

A notification pops up as the script is downloaded, opening it I'm surprised by the quality. Despite her inherent 'fujoshiness' I have to hand it to Ebina for coming up with such a high quality script from the book in such a short span of time. If only she kept her _other_ tendencies at bay I'm sure she could do even better.

Pocketing my phone and trashing the now empty can I move back to the conference room, it has a lot less people now that most people have already left to complete the assigned tasks. I see a few heads turn as my entrance is actually noticed, just why did I come back…

"Ah Hikigaya-kun," Shiromeguri-senpai calls out to me from the other end of the room, "Come here, we're having the finance division meeting now."

I head over reluctantly as the main show now begins. You see that no matter what kind of activity you undertake, money ends up being the focus of it at the end. This is one of the reasons why the finance division is directly headed by the vice-chairman and the approvals have to be sought by the chairman.

Which kinda puts me in a tight situation as everybody is going to want an extra piece of the pie, I guess I'll just have Yukinoshita deal with the troublesome ones.

With that set aside, I take my seat as the first official meeting of the finance division begins. The agenda of this meeting is to outline the estimated costs of the event and make a few preliminary sanctions for initial spending. The meeting goes smoothly for most part as the StuCo has given us the details of spending for the last two years, and most of the things are well within budget. The meeting ends soon enough as the minutes are noted by a freshman, the initial allocations have been approved and will come into effect from when I put my seal on them.

But honestly, this is going to be too tiring for me if I've got to approve of everything.

"I propose one more change," all heads on the table turn to face me, but this one is necessary to ensure I'm not overburdened, "I plan to delegate approval powers of spending expenditure lower than 4000 yen to the vice-chairman, anything over and above that will require the chairman's approval." There, perfectly put forward, this way I can avoid quite a bit of annoying paperwork without even appearing lazy.

Perfect!

"That is acceptable," Shiromeguri-senpai nods as Yukinoshita settles for giving me an odd look before the meeting officially ends.

"Let's work harder tomorrow!" With all due respect Shiromeguri-senpai, I think we're gonna be alright at this pace, and that means I'm not working more than I am already. There is enough on my plate as it is.

"It would be so much like you to do this," I turn to face the familiar voice of the ice-queen as she speaks, "afterall the delegation of financial powers leaves you with less work, your laziness astounds me."

Normally I'd just let her take her jabs, but the can of MAX seems to have left me with some extra energy today.

"It is more of a division if you ask me, moreover if you have marginal financial powers you'll be able to meet the general stationary requirements without having to seek _my_ approval for anything and everything." That should do it.

A flicker of doubt can be seen in Yukinoshita's eyes, however she chooses not to speak as my perfectly worded counter, take that you Yuki-onna!

"Well then," she turns as I detect an unfamiliar movement of hands "See you tomorrow."

She's actually giving me a proper goodbye? Isn't that a surprise.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." I wave back slightly as her silhouette dissolves into the fading sunlight, better head home before it gets too dark.

Walking back to the cycle stand I feel myself relax a little. The committee is quite tiring to be frank and I'd much rather stay away from any work…but at the end it felt better to actually interact with my peers.

Sure I didn't make a ton of friends, I'm no riajuu afterall.

Still to actually be treated like a normal guy for once, it felt… oddly refreshing. Maybe I just judged everyone like they judged me, and in that process neither ever spoke to each other.

Taking a deep breath I tried to focus on the task at hand, it was well past five already and I needed to hit the road if I wanted to be on time for my dinner treat today. Unlocking my bike I swung my bag and made my way to the station. Kiyoshi's Grill is located near dad's office, and I'm not risking the traffic at this time in the commercial district.

Locking my bike to the railing I boarded the train, it is quite crowded at this hour but I can manage since the destination is only two stations away. Boarding the train I wince slightly as my shoulder bumps against the door, the injury from this morning still doesn't seem that close to healing yet.

Supporting myself with my other hand, I stood in the crowd of people as the train soon reached my destination. The pain subsided and was bearable enough for me to walk around. Depositing my bag in a station locker I checked my location on the map before proceeding to walk to my destination. The restaurant was barely 10 minutes on foot from the station and I reached there with five minutes to spare, strangely neither mom or Komachi were present there.

You see, we are quiet your normal nuclear family, both my parents work and we rarely get together except on weekends, that too is rare. To compensate for this mom or dad often call for impromptu get-togethers for the family in form of dinners or sometimes lunches when they are able to take short breaks from work. I considered this meeting to be pretty much the same, except maybe getting something a little extra for what mom said to me yesterday.

…

So why aren't the female members of the clan already here? My mother and Komachi are on my heels everytime whenever we get together in order to ensure that I do turn up.

To be frank they really don't need to do that. Even though I loathe social interactions, family time is something even I look forward to. My parents normally pick nice places, there are no suspicious glances on me and I get to eat quite a lot without having to spend anything out of my allowance.

That, plus it's nice to be with your closest strangers. Even though I have Komachi to keep me company at home, it's nice to be with the entire family once in a while.

"Hachiman," I turned to face one of the few people that actually call me by my first name. Attired in his usual business suit my father strode over to where I was standing before speaking again, "C'mon son, let's get in. I already made a reservation for us."

Nodding to him I followed him inside as we were guided to our seats and served the customary welcome drinks, perusing over the menu I absentmindedly began small talk.

"Shouldn't we wait for mom and Komachi dad?" I mean really, I don't want to see the annoyed face of Komachi again because she didn't get to order for herself.

"We don't need to," he spoke before looking at me, "Because they're not coming…it's just us tonight."

What?

"I'll explain," he let out a sigh, "Let's just order first, I haven't eaten lunch today and I'm famished."

"Sure," I blurted out an automatic response as we both gave our respective orders, silence descended upon us for a while before the dishes were served and we began eating.

"I heard your mom…talked to you last night." Dad finally begins with a slightly unsure tone, just be prepared to fork over old man.

"Yeah," I muttered in my most defeatist tone, "something about me being responsible for declining birth rates and being a 'damned herbivore'…"

My statement hangs in the air as dad visibly winces, maybe I should hold back a little.

Or not.

I mean seriously, even when I'm used to jabs doesn't mean they don't hurt, the rule applies to everyone without exception.

"I-I'm…people tend to say stupid things when they're drunk Hachiman…" Dad tires his best to cover up as he trails off about mom's drunk tendencies, but I'm determined to hold out here.

"Well…" dad sighs as he sees that his explanation isn't exactly helping things, "I'm sorry now, I shouldn't have left you alone to deal with her."

I look at him with my usual dead eyes as he looks down before resuming his speech.

"Anyways, what's done cannot be undone. Just…try to look over what she said, even if it might not have come out that way, whatever she said was because she is concerned for you." I don't need to be told that pops, but it's gonna take some time for me to accept what she's said.

But until then, I will need something to keep me happy.

"Anyways, I need to go back to the office now, so…just remember, don't think too much about it; and I'll ensure that all future occurrences are avoided." With that dad got up and prepared to leave. Emulating his actions I got up myself as dad slipped me a small envelope, "Think of it as compensation for my negligence…and please try to forgive your old man."

"Alright da-"

OUCH!

"I-I'm so sorry sir." A waitress spoke as she straightened herself. I rubbed my shoulder in pain, you should really watch where you're going woman.

"Are you alright Hachiman?" My dad asks, concern quite evident in his tone.

"Yeah dad," I rubbed my shoulder to ease the pain somehow, "I had a small accident in the morning, I'm a bit bruised waist up."

"Did you see a doctor?"

"No, but I got first-aid from the school nurse."

Dad frowns at my response before speaking again.

"That is no good, drop by Midori's before you head home."

"Without an appointment?"

"I'll call her and let you know you're on the way, her clinic remains open till eight anyways."

"Alright then," I nod reluctantly, I can't really skip going to the doctor. Plus the shoulder is a bit worse than I had expected it to be, so I think I should go.

Exiting the place and saying goodbye to my father I made my way back to the station. Retrieving my bag from the locker I took the train back to the station, collected my bike and soon on the way to the edge of our neighborhood.

Locking my bike yet again I faced a cream-colored building with a nice white board that announced the name of 'Hinemoshi Clinic.' Moving inside I was greeted by an almost empty lobby and a receptionist who looked eager to go home, closing hours tend to do that to people.

"Name?" She asked me as I approached her.

"Hikigaya Hachiman, Hansegawa-san should be expecting me."

One quick call over the intercom and I was given the green signal. Hansegawa Midori was our family doctor, and evidently had some sort of history with dad given the fact that mom was always on the edge whenever we went to see her.

Anyways, she was nice enough and good at what she did, and that was enough for me. Climbing the stairs I stood in front of her cabin and knocked.

"Come in."

"Ah Hachiman, Hiroshi told me you had some sort of an accident?"

"Yeah," I moved inside and sat on the stool near her, "My shoulder's been hurting since this morning."

"Alright then, I'm going to have to ask you to take off your shirt."

Complying with her instructions I take off my shirt as she examines my shoulder, she pokes around a bit massaging gently as she asks questions about the incident.

"So, it appears that you might have a ligament injury; though I cannot rule out a small crack in your bones." She speaks after a few minutes of observation, "You certainly have a knack for accidents, don't you?"

"Is it that bad?"

"Not really," she hands me a 2 strips of pills, "Take the orange one twice a day after your meals, it will help with the healing; as for the blue one, it's a painkiller so in case it hurts more then take it to ease the pain. In case the pain does worsen inform me, and we'll get you an x-ray."

I nod in response, looks like it won't be too much trouble.

"Good, now lay down on your good side," she points to a bed, "I'll give you a temporary plaster."

Laying down on my good shoulder I feel her undoing the earlier first aid before covering it with something quite a bit tighter.

"So, what did you end up doing to injure yourself this time? Another dog?"

"No, a person actually." She chuckles slightly at my statement.

"That would explain the damage, you had extra weight on you. You're quite a bit like your father that way…" Her eyes acquire a slightly distant look before focusing again.

"Anyhow, it doesn't look serious. But please refrain from doing any activity that might strain your shoulder. This temporary plaster will loosen after a few days, until then make sure you don't let it get wet or take it off."

"Yes ma'am."

"Plus you have conjunctivitis, did you take the eye test last month as I told you?"

"Uh, no." She sighs in response.

"You've got to take care of yourself young man. I'm scheduling an appointment with Katotsu-san downstairs, visit him tomorrow and get it done."

I try to raise an objection, but cut off even before I can speak.

"I'm not hearing any excuses, you've been putting it off for almost a year now."

"Fine." I mutter in a dejected manner.

"Good then, take care Hachiman."

"Yes, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Saying 'see you later' to your doctor just doesn't sit right with me.

Moving downstairs I realize that the movements of my shoulder are quite restricted now, I just hope I don't have a cracked bone this time. With that I unlock my bike and walk the rest of the way, not taking any chances with my shoulder. Soon enough I reach home and am within the safe confines of my room.

Sitting on my bed I opened the envelope to discover a shining new card and a slip with 4 digits.

.God.

My heart truly skipped a beat as I held the piece of plastic in my hands, I had my very own debit card!

Nononnonooono Hachiman, don't get your hopes up just yet, I have to check the account balance before I can celebrate.

But still this is good, now I can deposit my allowance, not have to carry cash on me at all times and even shop online without having to take mom's card.

This is great.

"Onii-chan! Dinner's ready!" Oh my dear sister, this day just got better.

…

But why are we having take-out Chinese instead of your homely treats?

I sat down to have a normal dinner as Komachi told me about her day. Apparently one of her friends broke up with her boyfriend today, or he broke up with her…the details are a bit sketchy. Anyways her group of friends, Komachi included, spent the entire evening consoling her as she bawled her eyes out over the guy.

"Honestly, shouldn't you guys be more worried about your grades and the entrance exams?"

The dynamics of social cliques fascinate me. Well I did confess to Orimoto back in middle school, but that was at the end of my second year; the third year was fully reserved for study and study alone.

"Mou, not you too onii-chan! That's what our teachers and mom always rambles about." Well, they kinda should, afterall it _is_ September already. You hardly have 4 months before you face your final exams, and the entrance exams starting 2 weeks after that.

"Uzuki-chan was heartbroken!"

Honestly Komachi, you are starting to worry me now. The school you attend right now, from which I graduated 2 years ago, doesn't have a lot of recommendations; and even for the few they have I highly doubt you've has the grades to lay claim to them.

Meaning that as far as high school is concerned; your only hope is to score well on the entrance exams. Considering that you have chosen to set your sights on Sobu of all places, I'm a little worried about a perceived lack of effort. Sure people like Yuigahama or Tobe luck out once in while, but I don't want my sister to dangle her hopes on such a chance.

"Just don't let it get to you Komachi." For now, I'll remain silent. She's under enough pressure from her teacher and our mother, I don't need to add to it. Plus I'm sure that she can balance it out on her own.

"Mm-hm alright onii-chan!" With that she runs to her room as I clean up, putting the plates in the dishwasher I head back to my room and get a headstart on this week's homework. Even the festival is not a good enough excuse to save me from the punches of that demonic single woman.

[Next Morning]

'Trrrrrrrrrr'

'Groan'

I wake up and switch off the alarm as I check on the time. Why in the world did I get up at quarter to six in the morning?

'Bzzz'

' _Hikitani-kun, just a friendly reminder that we have a practice scheduled at 6: 30 today. Please try to be on time._

 _Hayama Hayato.'_

That's right, I'm part of that stupid fujoshi play.

But from where the hell did Hayama get my contact information? Is it public property now? I claim invasion of privacy!

I switch on autopilot before going through my mundane routine, showering is a bit tedious given the plaster. Putting on my uniform I head to the kitchen, maybe a cup of coffee will uplift my spirits. Putting in the coffee and water into the coffee-maker. I wait for my divine beverage to be prepared as I hear footsteps echo in the hallway.

Who can it be at this hour?

I grab a knife before moving stealthily to the hallway, the clan of Hikigaya is not known for their early risers; so I have my suspicions on who it can be at this ungodly hour.

"Haa!" I see a female figure move in as I dodge a baseball bat swung rather clumsily. The woman almost falls down due to her own force before turning to face me.

"Hachi! You scared the life out of me!"

"Well, uh, sorry mom." What else can a guy say?

"You're going to school already?" She takes a seat at the dining table as I present her with a cup of coffee. It is an unwritten rule in this house that the first person to awaken shall make enough coffee to fulfill the morning caffeine demands of all the occupants.

"Yeah, unfortunately I have been roped into an activity that requires me to leave at this ungodly hour." If I don't go then Miura will definitely kick my ass, something I'd rather avoid.

"What kind of an activity?"

Do I detect a trace of suspicion? Your son is not that desperate mom…

"It's a class play for the school festival, the practice has been scheduled in the morning."

"What play?" Seems like I'm not off the hook yet.

"An adoption of 'Le Petit Prince.' We're doing it as a play." I'm not mentioning the fujoshi parts that have been snuck in.

"And what role are you doing?"

"I'm the pilot." I say as I finish my cup, that sure hit the spot.

Looking up I see mom in a look of complete shock.

"Th-that's like the lead role…you're not a tree this time?"

Just what do you think of your son?

Recognizing that she has lent voice to her innermost thoughts mom starts to fidget in her chair, turning away from me to not look me in the eye.

"It's okay mom," I sigh, "it _is_ completely unexpected afterall."

"But it's good."

Huh?

"It's nice to see you do something different for a change Hat-chan," she turns to face me this time, "be sure to tell me when your play is, I would very much like to see my son perform in front of an audience."

For some reason I feel heat rise to my cheeks, looking away I glance at the clock.

"I'll be leaving now mom, practice is scheduled at 6: 30."

I walk to the door as I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Here," mom hands me 2 bananas, "I'll make sure to have some breakfast ready next time, so this'll have to do for now."

"Thanks mom, bye."

"Goodbye, have fun Hat-chan."

Have fun, eh?

…

Maybe I will give it a try.

[School]

I lock my bike at the cycle stand, considering the time I see quite a lot of students prancing around the campus. What motivates these riajuus to wake up this early in the morning is beyond me, they couldn't possibly do it just for the cool air.

Making my way to the class I open the door to see quite a few people already in assembly, all the attention seems to be focused on me as soon as I enter.

"Ah, Hikitani-kun, good morning."

Morning to you too sparky.

"Yo, Hayama." I can't call it a good morning after having to wake up at this hour.

"Hachiman, good morning."

My heart flutters for a moment as I feel the angels descend from heaven.

"G-good morning Totsuka." Is he in the play as well? If it has to be, why can't he be the prince? I'll gladly perform anything Ebina demands of us.

"I'm totally excited for the play you know. I came for tennis practice but since I heard Hachiman was going to be in the play I thought I would like to see it."

Ah, the grace of his presence seeps into the atmosphere. I wouldn't mind turning up at four if I got to see Totsuka everyday…

"Okay everyone," the fire-queen spoke up as she ruined my moment, "we'll begin as soon as Hina comes back with the printouts…Hikio, why are you glaring at me?" She spoke in a confused tone as she turned to me.

"Nothing." I spoke as I looked away, I must keep myself under control.

Ebina arrived in a few minutes along with Yuigahama and Tobe, who was holding a huge stack of papers. All the actors, including me, were given a hard-copy of the script. We are allowed to speak by reading the script for the first few sessions, after which we will have to depend on rote memorization.

Seems easy enough, given that I don't have a memory like Yuigahama's I should be able to memorize this soon enough.

"Okay the boys!" the glass-eyes fujoshi spoke enthusiastically, "Get ready for a hot and steamy session of love!"

Isn't this a normal practice for a play?

I dumped my bag on my desk before doing a quick go-through of the script. Luckily I had read the book once earlier and am familiar with the story.

"Okay then, let's begin!" Can you be a little quieter Miura.

"H-hikki," Yuigahama approached me .

"Yo."

"S-so you did come Hikki."

Why are you so nervous?

"What is the matter Yuigahama?"

"W-well," she fidgets a bit, "I was talking to everyone yesterday, and we ended up having a bet-"

"I understand." So you seriously thought I wasn't gonna come?

"E-eh?"

"I get it Yuigahama," I spoke as I moved to the front, "Let's go, the play is getting started."

Moving to the front I faced Hayama, now to enact the first scene…

"Okay, we will start with a kiss! The passionate love of the Prince melts the heart of the Sulking Pilot as-"

Fuah!

Ebina collapses with a nosebleed as everyone in the room sweatdrops.

"Is she _always_ like this Hayama?"

"Well," he spoke as he looked at the fallen figure, "Yumiko said that her tendencies are temporarily suppressed once this happens 4 times in a row."

Good lord, I just wanna go back home and sleep.

"Okay then," Miura steps in, "Hayato and Hikio, just try reading the lines for today. Everyone else stand by until your turn comes up ok."

With that we go for a simple rehearsal. Words roll off our tongues, rather awkwardly a few times given a few rather _suggestive_ lines weaved into the play.

I just hope I survive, I mean we have to act all this out in front of a friggin' audience!

"Alright! That's it for today, good work everyone!"

"Good work!" Why are you looking so happy Yuigahama? Don't tell me you're starting to fall in line with Ebina of all people.

Please don't, I'm begging you.

"Ne Hikki," she approached me out of the blue as everyone dispersed, "Wanna come with us to have some drinks?" She was asking me to come with her clique, but I believe I've had enough for one morning.

"Uh, I've actually got to go to the StuCo for a few things Yuigahama." Being the committee chairman gives me quite a plethora of excuses.

Yuigahama looks a bit disappointed before regaining her usual cheery self, "Alright, see you later Hikki!"

With that she's off, the part about the StuCo was a lie; but I think I'll head over and have some water and eat the bananas mom gave me. Considering the fact that we have quite some time left before classes actually begin I start walking towards my usual lunch spot, sunglasses firmly planted in front of my eyes as I consume one of the fruits en-route, all that practice has made me quite hungry.

"Ah Hikigaya-kun!"

I turn around to face one of the few people that actually call me by my real name. Turning around I faced our airheaded but still dependable StuCo president.

"Good morning Shiromeguri-senpai." I'd normally stick with my usual 'yo,' but since she's actually been nice to me it'd be just rude to greet her improperly.

"Good morning to you too Hikigaya-kun, you're rather early today."

"Well, unfortunately I have been roped into performing in my class play, and since most of us have stuff to do post classes the practice is in the ungodly hours of morning."

My response elicits a giggle.

"I take it you are not an early riser then?"

"I prefer sleep over all else." Most likely until my sister starts jumping on my bed to wake me up at noon on weekends.

"Anyhow, I'm glad I was able to meet you here. The principal wants to meet you today post classes."

"Why?" I'm one hundred percent sure I've not done anything that could get me into trouble.

"Uh, you're the committee chairman."

Oh, almost forgot about that.

"Alright, so after classes right?"

"Right, make sure that your uniform is proper though."

Huh?

"What?" I couldn't help but voice my thoughts.

"Geez" Shiromeguri-senpai let out a sigh before she moved quite close to me and started fiddling with my collar.

What the hell woman!?

"Now, atleast your collar is right, tuck in your shirt and…do you have a tie?"

"Well…um, yeah." I turned my face away as I blushed and retrieved my tie from my coat pocket, she was close enough for me to sense her poppy perfume.

"Well then," she crossed her arms "Wear it."

"Right now?"

"Yes." She was oddly serious.

I swung the tie over my shoulders and attempted in vain to remember the steps dad had once shown me. I was never really comfortable wearing these glorified male chokers and merely kept one on me in case there was a surprise inspection, I could just show it and claim it came undone.

"You don't know how to do it, do you Hikigaya-kun?"

"To be honest Shiromeguri-senpai, I don't."

She giggled again before moving close and taking the reins in her hand again.

"You're such a kid," She said as I felt her nimble hands at work going around my neck.

"Is this meeting that important Shiromeguri-senpai?"

"Yes, you see Hikigaya-kun I told you that there was quite a lot of friction between the chairman and the vice-chairman last year right?"

I nod in response.

"The friction proved a huge dampener to everyone's efforts. There was a lot of confusion until the last day and in the end…things didn't turn out that well."

"I heard that too." Even if I didn't bother attending the cultural festival last year, I knew quite a bit about how mismanaged it had turned out to be. Whatever I had managed to learn from the snippets of conversation in the classroom and the random feeds on social media, it was not very good.

"So the principal wants to make sure that everything goes well this year, I've even invited a senpai of mine from back when she was the chairman to help us out."

"Alright, I'll try not to mess it up."

"Good boy," she spoke as she retreated, "There, all done. You should try and look like this more Hikigaya-kun, the tie suits you."

"Uh…thanks senpai…?" Why am I questioning a good-natured compliment from such a sweet girl, am I that far gone that I can't even take any praise? I'm disgusting myself here!

"Ok, see you later at the meeting Hikigaya-kun." She waves a bit disappearing down the hallway as I absentmindedly wave back.

Well, might as well get myself a can of MAXX, even if I'm not really thirsty now I'd much rather avoid the lunch hour-rush. Moving to my usual lunch spot I peel another of the fruits and start eating as I observe Totsuka tough it out on the tennis court; he looks really cute while doing the melee, and his tennis shorts reveal slender leg-

No! Bad Hachiman!

Totsuka is pure, even defiling him in my thoughts is tantamount to getting a one-way ticket to hell.

I give myself a sagely nod as I observe the sports clubs disperse for the morning, seems like it is almost time for classes to begin. Walking back I pick up a can of MAXX before taking my seat in class, it's a lot more crowded now compared to earlier.

Classes begin soon enough and drag on as usual, I manage to regain some of the lost sleep courtesy of Stealth Hikki. Lunch provides a breathing window before classes re-start and finally end for the day. Normally this would be the time when I would happily join the going-home club, but alas, my freedom has been taken away due to the continuous interference of a desperately single middle-aged teacher with too much free time on her hands.

Someone please take her already.

With those thoughts on my mind I find my feet guide me towards a new destination in school I have yet to ever visit, that is the principal's office. Going against a steady stream of students headed to their respective homes or clubs I finally found myself in front of the principal's office. Moving to the reception I gave my name to the secretary and was ushered into a small waiting room and told that the principal would see me in a few minutes.

Sipping a glass of water in the waiting room I take one last look at my appearance, Shiromeguri-senpai wasn't really lying about the tie.

"Hikigaya-san" the secretary calls me, "please go in now." Nodding to her I move to the rather imposing door and knock.

"Come in." Is it me, or does this remind me of Yukinoshita.

"Good afternoon, sir." Ok, didn't say yo, stage 1 clear.

"Good afternoon, Hikigaya-kun I presume." The pleasant man looking to be in his late 40s speaks.

"Yes sir."

"Ah, please take a seat. Would you like something to drink?"

"Thank you for the offer sir, but I'm alright." I sit in a rather comfortable chair in front of him, is this real leather?

"Okay then," he leans back on his chair as he speaks, "let's get down to business then, shall we?"

I nod in response.

"Okay then…"

The meeting goes on for hardly 20 minutes. To be honest, the principal is quite a cool guy, mostly he asks me about the committee, whether or not I'm comfortable with the vice-chairman and if the student council is providing adequate support. I mostly give brief, to the point answers and try not to sound nervous.

"…so, is there anything that the administration can facilitate?"

"Well, to be honest there is an issue with respect to domain space allocation…" the PR division told me that they only got clearance for a low bar, which is a problem as hardly any of the visitors bother scrolling down; plus the fact that the virtual poster is landscape and will have to be converted into portrait to fit into the low bar.

"In that case, you have my word that you will get a sidebar allocation, is that enough?"

"Certainly sir, thank you very much."

"It was nice meeting you Hikigaya-kun, and I sincerely hope this year's festival is a success to be remembered.

"I will try my best sir." I'll work all those riajuus to the ground. The meeting concludes with a handshake and soon I'm out and walking towards the meeting room. Nearing my destination I sense quite a bit of commotion as I enter, with Shiromeguri-senpai trying to expain something to a _very_ annoyed Yukinoshita.

I would have wondered what ticked off Yukinoshita to give her full ice-queen glare to someone other than me, but clearly I am able to see the obvious reason standing behind the sweet pig-tailed girl. Said reason has currently crossed her arms over her rather ample bosom as she gives a satisfied smile while gazing at the proceedings which clearly amuse her.

"… _I've even invited a senpai of mine from back when she was the chairman to help us out."_

Why, just why did Shiromeguri-senpai have to invite _her_ of all people?

My musings are broken as I see almost all the eyes in the room focus on me, Stealth Hikki doesn't seem to be working that effectively these days.

Said eyes also contain a pair from someone I was okay not meeting for the third time, but it seems that the guys up above enjoy making my life just more miserable; wasn't one from that gene pool enough to fill my miserability quota?

Just why are you here, Yukinoshita Haruno.

* * *

 **So, I know I've kinda been neglectful on this story; hope the length compensates for it.**

 **Rest assured, I'm not planning on discontinuing any of my fics.**

 **On an ending note, I should be able to write quite a bit since college has closed for now; but don't count on it as I might just land an early internship.**

 **PS**

 **shiro: I will.**

 **Saberus9: thank you so much; and your guess is as good as mine.**

 **El Emperador: thank you; and I hope this is soon enough. (lol)**

 **Ash the Aura Guardian: same as above.**

 **Blackpsych: you gave me more ideas than I actually had.**

 **Ruffess: well, she kinda is a part of everything.**

 **hikigaya: thanks.**

 **OmegaEleven: here we are.**

 **adv: thanks, and I will try.**

 **I love this: I shall try earnestly.**

 **Guest: kinda overlooked that, thanks for pointing it out.**

 **Calvados: it indeed has.**

 **The Flying Frog: hope you still are keeping an eye on this.**

 **Guest: thank you.**

 **Fanfic Critic: to each his own.**

 **two-one kf: could you tell me how exactly it is different? An earnest question.**

 **LyingHiki: I think you have waited enough.**

 **Lord Mortesen: hope this is soon enough. (lol)**

 **narutoDkurosaki: he truly will.**

 **NPwall: thanks.**

 **Mr. Self-Depriciation: it indeed is.**

 **fluffpenguin: it fascinates me as well.**

 **TheLaughingStalk: it indeed would.**

 **WayFarer2000: hope it is.**

 **The Quotable Patella: a good idea. I'll have to watch code geass now.**

 **A Fool's Treasure: hope I gave you something more to look forward to.**

 **BentShuriken: who knows? We may just have a new Tsar.**

 **Zallow: Thanks, and sorry, can't answer the question or it gives away the plot.**

 **Murr34Hurr: Thanks.**

 **jminator: it indeed is.**

 **That's it for now, see ya guys later!**


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